Wired Life
by Aria DC al Fine
Summary: For as long as Yukio could remember, the red string tied around his pinky connected him straight to his older brother's. But Rin had never acknowledged it. (If something exists only in your mind, is it real?) Tags: Red String of Fate, Soul-Bond, Okumuracest, manga-spoilers
1. 1-5

A/N: Title is borrowed from Meisa Kuroki / Ao no Exorcist's 2nd ending. Tbh it was my source of inspiration for this story.

A guide on how to read this story:

I am trying to update everyday, so sorry but each update will be around this length (min 500 words). Each chapter will contain short scenes (i.e. scene 1-5 in this chapter), and each scene is a peek into one (or two; it will be obvious) character's POV, his/her experience of a particular moment and the accompanying thoughts and emotions. Sometimes they can be unreliable narrators. So one may not be able to project the understanding of one scene into an understanding of the whole story. The scenes will not be in chronological order. They are meant to be puzzle pieces.

I hope you will enjoy this format.

* * *

><p>1.<p>

"_That's…" disapproval radiated off the Paladin in waves._

"_It's necessary," his companion urged, "what if he looks for her and father quarter-blood demons? How will the bond affect his sealed powers? There are too many risks."_

_They stared at the baby in the bassinet._

"_Even then…"_

* * *

><p>2.<p>

"Oh!" Shiemi's face turned beet red as she laid her eyes on Ryuuji. Her wide eyes darted from her pinky to the boy with wild highlighted hair repeatedly, as though in disbelief. "U-um-"

"Seriously!?" Shima and Konekomaru rose to their feet and gaped at their childhood friend Bon.

"Her string's connected to you?" the bald boy exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm envious!" the pink-haired teen pouted. "Not only you're one of the lucky few who actually get to meet your soul mate, she's such a cute girl too!"

"I-i-idiot!" Bon stuttered, his face was redder than Shiemi's.

Rin blinked at the development that occurred to his new friend, the hope that had been building since he met her at her garden dashed. "So lucky, eh," he murmured under his breath, his eyes couldn't help but glare at his bare pinky resentfully.

Yukio watched his brother from the doorway, and looked down at the red string around his own pinky.

(He was just as doomed.)

* * *

><p>3.<p>

"_Ne, ne!" Rin tugged at his father's robe and pointed at the television screen. "Why does she have a string around her finger? Why is it linked to the man's finger?"_

_The priest looked troubled for a moment. "Rin," he crouched down to his foster son's level, "Some of us have a red thread around our pinkies that are only visible to the owner of the pinky. This thread is often called the 'Red String of Fate'. This string connect us to…a person who is very important to us. The other half of our soul." The adult male nudged at the TV with his chin, "it's been popularized as romance in the media, but really, that person doesn't have to be a wife. They can be a friend."_

_The second statement had flown over Rin's head it seemed, because the young boy was too busy staring at his pinky. He brought his hands close to his eyes and bit his lip in concentration before he sighed, small shoulders slumping forward. "I don't have the string," he sounded dejected. "…Do I not have an important person?"_

_As soon as Rin spoke, Yukio turned to his brother, the bespectacled boy's expression that of shock._

"_Well…" Father Fujimoto looked sad for a moment before a bright grin overtook his face. He ruffled Rin's hair, messing it up. "Not everyone has the string. Some people are born whole! Besides," the curve of his lips was filled with warmth. "You have us! We won't leave you alone," with his long arms, Father Fujimoto grabbed Yukio and enveloped the two boys in a bear group hug._

_Rin laughed as he was pressed tightly against the tall man's chest. "I can't breathe!" he giggled, his previous cloudy mood quickly forgotten._

_The smaller boy remained pensive._

"_Yukio?" the priest noticed something was amiss._

_The younger brother shook his head and nuzzled against his family closer._

* * *

><p>4.<p>

Later, after Rin discovered his true heritage, he wondered if the reason he didn't have the string was because he didn't have a _human_ soul another person on Assiah could be a mate to.

* * *

><p>5.<p>

"Congratulations."

Blood rushed to Shiemi's cheeks again. "T-thank you," she peered at her tutor.

Yukio calmly scribbled some notes on his book before her quiet observation of him went on unnervingly too long. "Your mother must be relieved," he said, to break the awkward silence. "Suguro-kun has strong spiritual powers. The bond would enhance your physical health." He smiled at her, an empty polite expression.

Shiemi smiled sadly to herself. Truthfully, she'd wanted Yuki-chan to be the other end of her string. To keep a tight lid over her wistful thoughts, Shiemi pretended to fuss. "A b-bond-! That's very, very far ahead, Yuki-chan! We may not even…"

"_Sou desu ne…_" The dragoon laughed. "You're still young; take the time to understand yourselves," he stated a general, meaningless advice.

Shiemi pursed her lips and hesitated. Twice. Eventually she managed to ask her burning question. "How about Yuki-chan's string…"

Something flashed across Yukio's eyes, an expression so cold it…scared Shiemi and made her words trail off.

"I don't have any," eventually, Yukio spoke, his tone flat.

Shiemi knew it was a lie. "Oh," she merely responded.

They didn't say anything for a few seconds, until Yukio tapped his pen at a page before his student. "Shiemi-san, about this practice question…"

The blonde girl quickly welcomed the change in topic. "Ah, this case study…"

Shiemi never once asked Yukio about his soulmate again.

TBC

* * *

><p>Review please!<p>

A/N1: I'm not very sure I can write Bon/Shiemi up to your satisfaction, since I'm still trying to explore this pairing. If it feels off, I appreciate feedback.


	2. 6-8

6.

In Shura's oldest, vaguest memory – the earliest instance of her life she could recall - the string around her pinky was already black.

When she was a toddler, Shura made the mistake of asking an older clan woman who was occasionally taking care of her. The woman's face was instantly filled with pity.

"You're strong, Shura," a wrinkled hand covered her own short chubby fingers. "You'll survive without needing anyone."

Shura pieced it together later. The fact that her soulmate had died before she was born.

She didn't feel any loss.

(One couldn't lose something he hasn't had, after all.)

"Hmmph," the scantily-clad woman pushed the remote button with more force than necessary while flipping the television a bird. "What a tasteless show."

Yukio, who was in the teachers' lounge with her, reading reports while she was killing time, sighed. "You shouldn't have watched it in the first place, Shura-san."

"It was good," Shura sighed and leaned so far back from the sofa she could see the serious guy from her head hanging upside down. He was going to give himself an ulcer in the stomach one day, she knew it. "Funny crap…till they have to bring that shit in."

She was replied with silence for a while. Just as the Upper First Class exorcist thought she was being ignored, Yukio remarked, "The red string of fate is indeed overhyped."

Shura snorted. "You don't say."

She observed him perusing through stacks of papers a while longer before her boredom got the better of her. "Yer gonna work yerself to death at this rate," she sighed loudly, half venting her restlessness out, half baiting him. "Think of yer poor soulmate, her heart broken when she sees her thread turn black."

"Heh," Yukio's huff was full of derision, carelessly abandoned in the air. "He can't even see the thread." The sentence was soft but audible, his murmur ringing hollow.

Yukio must really be tired, Shura thought, for the normally detached teen to let out such a revealing response. If the bespectacled genius was himself, he would have stopped at, 'that's not possible,' and let Shura decipher the meaning herself, guessing whether he had no string or his string was already black, like hers.

'He doesn't see.' These words told Shura that Yukio had a (male) soulmate and knew who he was. An unreciprocated knowledge.

Her own eyes couldn't help but stray to her own string. Her black, unmoving string.

In the time her eyes blinked, it twitched.

(Everybody neglects to mention what happens when the other end of your string is an inhuman existence from Gehena.)

* * *

><p>7.<p>

Yukio was at his wits' end.

_Why would anyone choose to throw away his humanity and be a demon?_

"What about your soulmate?" the exorcist shouted at Toudou. At the very least, he hoped to throw the older man – demon – off guard. "Did you think of her before? How she will be affected by your transformation?"

Yukio's plan backfired. A dark shadow overtook the traitor's freckled face. "I saw my string turn black," his growl was filled with so much hate, bitterness and….regret? "When I was busy chasing the backs of my father and brothers."

_Oh_.

"I'm the same as you," Toudou taunted. "Now that your brother is going to disappear, you already have nothing left."

Yukio's heart dropped to his stomach. _Nobody was supposed to know._

He fought and ran with all his might, shooting bullets after bullets of blessed water. Even though there was no tomorrow. Precisely because there was no tomorrow. Draining his powers summoning the Naiads.

His opponent was barely scratched. "Don't you think you are just a tool to protect your brother?" Toudou sing-sang as he stalked after the lower-ranked exorcist.

Relief flooded into Yukio at once. His secret was still safe with him.

"Admit it," the demon came closer, cornering his prey, "you truly hate your brother."

Yukio gritted his teeth and kept his gun held up.

Toudou couldn't be more wrong.

(But he was also right.)

* * *

><p>8.<p>

For as long as Yukio could remember, the red string tied around his little finger connected him straight to his older brother's.

But Rin had never acknowledged it.

(If something exists only in your mind, is it real?)

TBC

Review please!


	3. 9-12

A/N: Kagamine-san, thanks for the review! Could you please elaborate what are some of the 'mistakes' you mentioned?

* * *

><p>9.<p>

("**_Soul Bonding for Dummies"_**)

'_Nii-san!_'

Rin turned around when the back of his neck pricked into goose bumps, his eyes searching the lush carpet of trees covering the hills behind him. The shadows that hid the chaos below them. "Yu…kio?"

(_Contrary to popular belief, bonding doesn't begin with intercourse – or a vow, for platonic ones._)

"Okumura, in front of you!" Suguro yelled at him, and Rin's attention focused on the building-like living thing whose sole purpose seemed to be exploding the ever-expanding sporangium, something he and the Aria exwire must stop soon.

(_It begins with a touch accompanied by eye contact. And grows with each interaction._)

"Shit, why won't it be unsheathed?" Rin vented his frustration at the Kurikara. Compared to his useless self, Suguro determinedly maintained the Earth Contract Seal (the only protection Kyoto had against the miasma). Quietly. Strongly.

Somewhere a distance from them Izumo stared at the summoned green man, made big by Shiemi, and thought in awe (though she would never admit it). '_Just how powerful is she?_'

(_As the bond grows stronger, so would the mates it is bound with._

_Until it calls for consummation._)

* * *

><p>10.<p>

The tug itched.

"Nii-" Yukio bit his lip before his moan got the better of him, choking his throat with the desire to be released.

As always, the older teenager continued sleeping unaware across him, sprawled just a room's width distance away, always seeming so far. Unreachable.

(_The reason for the common misconception is that an unconsummated bond can be assumed nonexistent._)

Yukio's hands inadvertently sped up as his whole body burned. Telling him to seek what it longed for.

(_The strength of the bond after the consummation is a hundred, a million times more powerful. Bond partners would be able to borrow each other's powers, influence and support each other through the connection which has been opened between them._)

Reciting that line from the guidebook had always given Yukio the effect he wanted. The fire under his skin died as though it had been doused by a bucket of icy water. The teen removed his hands from his groin as though his genitalia was dirty, a demon to be tamed in its own rights.

'Don't succumb, don't give up,' Yukio told himself as he walked gingerly to the bathroom.

(I don't want to be a demon.)

Or so the mantra went on.

* * *

><p>11.<p>

Still, there was no escaping it.

* * *

><p>12.<p>

"Yer exactly the type to be possessed by a demon by accident," Shura said, a long time ago.

She was seldom wrong.

"Stop!" Rin struggled against the iron grip the True Cross Order exorcists had around his shoulders. "Where are you taking Yukio!?" he shouted at the Grigori, at the people who were hauling Yukio's unconscious form away from view. "What are you going to do to him!?"

"He's become a dangerous existence," one of the hooded bastards said tonelessly. Like he was just announcing a train departure's timing.

Rin couldn't believe it. "He's been your exorcist for how long, three years? He's a good boy who's never once done anything out of line! This is how you reward his loyalty?" he was fighting against his restraints in earnest now, blue flames beginning to appear in his eyes, his sharp ears lengthening. Screw caution, screw the fact that Rin was right in the middle of the lion's den, surrounded by Upper-First-Class exorcists who could end him in a blink of an eye. The life of his precious brother was at risk.

"Indeed," another hooded member of the Grigori echoed, "precisely because of Okumura-sensei's loyalty, I believe he would not have wanted to continue existing as a demon."

That statement made Rin falter. "Yu…kio…"

Shura's snort cleared the confusion in his head. "Yer stupid if ye seriously believe that," the knight stepped into the fray, the handle of her trusty sword firmly encased in her hand.

She intended to fight for Yukio. That gave Rin hope. He released the full extent of the blue flames.

"Wait a moment," as usual, Mephisto arrived at the ruined former facility of the Illuminati fashionably late. He bowed to the Grigori, white robe billowing behind his tall form. "As Okumura Rin mentioned, Okumura Yukio has always been an excellent member of the True Cross Order, brilliant and devoted. I say this in my capacity as the Head of the Japanese Branch." His eyes slid to the bespectacled boy's prone body, tail lying limply by his side. "It is a waste to eliminate him, especially after he's obtained such powers."

Paladin Arthur's expression turned indignant. "You're only protecting your kind!"

"I've never been partial to demons," Mephisto shrugged casually. "I'm just saying, keeping in view that the Illuminati is full of powerful exorcists who have transformed into more powerful demons, like Saburouta Toudou, having one of our own isn't a bad idea."

_For research. To keep ourselves on even footing with our enemy. _The words were left unsaid, but understood by everyone present.

Rin gritted his teeth.

"Indeed…" the Grigori member said again. "But it's useless if we can't control him."

"I have an idea," the trickster snapped his fingers, his smile slick as an eel. "We should let Okumura-sensei bond with his soulmate, and let his mate tether him to the humans' side."

TBC

Review please!


	4. 13-14

A/N: I hate nagging readers for reviews. I thought that if my story is good, readers will naturally review it. But I always get story faves and follows but no words from those people. Why? Because you read from your phones and it's hard to type reviews through phones? It's sad when one claims to like you but won't take any effort for you. I spend time writing so I'd really love to hear feedback about how to write better or even requests - in AO3, I have readers posting ideas which I took to build the story. I was excited re-posting this to FFnet, in case the story ends up becoming two different versions due to the different ideas given by readers. Hearing silence from people you're talking to is really lonely.

* * *

><p>13.<p>

"So I was wrong."

Yukio turned around so fast it was a wonder he didn't sustain a whiplash.

The carefree, menacing figure of Saburouta Toudou grinned at his opponent, the vermilion glow of Karura's flame around his wavy hair brightened the unhinged expression on his young freckled face. "I was wrong. You don't hate your brother," he elaborated, then leaned forward, eyes gleaming like he was sharing a secret, a juicy piece of gossip, "you can't possibly hate him, because he's the other end of your red string of fate."

Shocked by Toudou's intimidating proximity, Yukio recoiled backward, both hands still tightly wrapped around the barrels of his trusty Colt M1911. [1] Cursing the previous turns of events that separated him from his fellow exorcists under his breath, Yukio faced the demon with unflinching blue eyes. "I don't know what you are talking about," he said calmly.

Toudou scrutinized him, tilting his head to the side before his grin widened. "What a terrible liar you are, Okumura Yukio."

Yukio gave no outward reaction, his eyes watching Toudou's footwork and flames while his mind was whirling a mile a minute, speculating possible scenarios on how he could escape his enemy unscathed.

Toudou wasn't done taunting him. "Not only that, I heard that your brother doesn't know that you're his soulmate. He goes around, fishing for girls' sympathies with pitiful glances. 'Woe be me, a soulmate-less, lonely boy…'" the sentence was followed by a loud, condescending laughter.

Yukio didn't respond to Toudou's speech, still.

Neither of them attacked, merely circling each other with keen gazes. The tension on Yukio's spine was reaching excruciating levels of discomfort, his patience running thin.

"Wait a minute," Toudou broke the silence, yet he had not moved closer. "May be I wasn't wrong. You _do_ hate your brother."

Yukio inhaled sharply, and tried to disguise it by prolonging his breath. "Are you finished?" he snapped, putting as much derision into his remark as possible. As though whatever the older male had said was boring him.

Toudou just looked surer of himself. "I'm right here, yet he doesn't notice me," he narrated in a slightly different tone, as though he was mimicking Yukio's. "Sucks to be rejected by your own mate on a daily basis, doesn't it?" he leaned forward and lifted his foot, only to continue walking to the left and to the right, rather aimlessly.

Cold sweat dripped to Yukio's temple, but he didn't dare wipe it away and remove the aim of one of his guns from Toudou. "What a waste of time," it took him almost his all to keep his voice from shaking. Toudou had hit _too_ close to home.

"Oh, but you don't want the bond to be consummated either, do you?" now the demon was ignoring Yukio's words too. "His demonic powers will _contaminate_ you if the connection is opened…and you can't have that, can you?" Toudou clucked his tongue. "It's so unfair. Why does _he_ have to be my soulmate?"

Yukio didn't intend to be the first to shoot. But he was fed up with waiting, above all else.

Toudou moved so fast he was a flash a light to the untrained eye. Before Yukio could even widen his eyes, the demon already had the teen's back pressed against his chest.

"Shall I…" his grin turned predatory as his hands curled around Yukio's throat and left hand, "cut the rope for you?"

* * *

><p>14.<p>

Rin blinked.

"Yukio's…soulmate?" the half-demon echoed.

"Yes," Mephisto replied. Cockily, confidently.

Rin blinked again. He'd…never thought about it. Conceptually, he knew that Yukio, like any humans, might have a red string tied around his pinky connecting him to someone else somewhere. His special person.

Yet, Yukio never seemed to be looking.

And, shame on him to say this, lost in his own troubles as he was, Rin never asked.

_Because - jealousy of his brother's humanity aside - the thought of Yukio eventually leaving Rin to build his own family with the other half of his soul was…painful._

'You idiot!' Rin scolded himself in his mind. 'The reason Yukio never had the time to look for his soulmate was because he had his plate full with me, his troublesome half-demon older brother!'

The only other time his chest had felt this full of guilt was the moment Father Fujimoto's casket had been lowered into the ground.

"Do you know?" the Grigori's question was directed at Rin. "If Okumura Yukio even has a soulmate? If she is alive? Who she is?"

"E-eh," Rin panicked at being placed in the spotlight. "I-I…He…never mentioned…"

The other hooded members turned to Mephisto.

"I don't know, either," Mephisto shrugged, sounding too carefree for Rin's liking. Yukio's life was not something fickle.

A gleam entered his slit-like eyes, though, and made Rin revise his opinions on the clown. "We know of someone who do, though?"

Whispers broke amongst the exorcists. "The Matchmaker," Rin heard the name mentioned repeatedly in hushed breaths.

The Grigori sighed. "Go deal with him yourselves. You have till tomorrow or the moment Okumura Yukio wakes and provide us the information himself, whichever is earliest."

_Provided he doesn't harm us upon waking up_, was another unspoken statement in everyone's mind.

"Understood," Mephisto bowed again, before he turned and walked away.

Rin and Shura followed him. "Who's…the Matchmaker?" Rin whispered.

Shura folded her arms behind her head and bent her neck backward. "An annoying creep!" she cringed. "I'll accompany ye to his place, but I won't enter with ye, get it?"

"_Nani_," Mephisto chuckled. "With my gateways, it wouldn't take much effort. _Eins, zwei, drei!_" He snapped his fingers again, to summon his magic this time (and not for, like, dramatic effects), and a huge door appeared before them, framed by a cuckoo clock.

Rin stared at the slowly opening door. And gulped.

"Let's go!"

TBC

Review please!

* * *

><p>Note:<p>

1. I'm not sure if this is Yukio's guns' model. If you know, please tell me.


	5. 15-16

A/N: I want to give a special mention to **SuperiorDimwit**, for the LENGTHY reviews you leave for each of my chapters, each of my 'scenes'. Thank you for becoming my inadvertent proofreader, too. I love how deeply you dissect each sentence, each word. Thanks for your suggestions as well!

* * *

><p>Reply to <strong>miraimiku<strong>: Thank you so much for the review, and calling this a 'masterpiece'. Yes, I do realize the story is a bit slow. Due to my commitment to update every day when I can (I'm a full-time working adult, with plenty of overtime), sometimes when I'm stuck at a particularly difficult scene I ended up writing past or future scenes. Yes, ending each scene with a cliffhanger is something I tend to do, Gomen. Again, thank you for the serious review.

Some of the answers to your question will be revealed in the next couple of updates, so I'm sorry I don't want to spoil them. If you're still unclear after those updates, then I will explain. I'm sorry for not answering you now!

Hope you'll enjoy this update! And thank you for the warning.

* * *

><p>Reply to <strong>outlogged<strong>: Thank you for setting my expectations straight! I will be more patient. My native language isn't English either. It's...actually idk what. It used to be Indonesian, but I've lived overseas for so long I'm not fluent at it anymore. However, my English grammar is still shaky at some parts.

Yukio is intensely reserved, while Rin has the tendency to gloss over things he deems complicated because he thinks he isn't 'smart enough'. In the manga, Rin did realise when Yukio was feeling troubled during the school festival arc, but Yukio didn't open up when asked. Rin couldn't force him to.

I'm glad you like the style. "Mix it more, throw in some completely unrelated things" - Ooh, I will, but this may conflict with some readers who wish for faster pacing, so as a compromise I give you two scenes, one a direct continuation of the last and one a scene of a random time period, which is supposed to enhance your understanding of the setting or a particular character.

No problem about the two (though I must be quite naive for giving away my 'personal info' quite freely then). Hope you'll enjoy this update!

* * *

><p>15.<p>

'We haven't taken a bath together for a long time…'

That was the first thought that entered Rin's head when he saw his little brother's nearly-naked form in the batting-centre-cum-practice-ground that day.

Well…okay, not the first. More like, the hundredth.

The first was, of course, 'Oh, crap!' Followed closely with, 'dayum, those asses!'

Yes, 'asses.' As in, plural.

(Yes, Rin ogled his own brother's wiry muscles as well as Shura's curvaceous booties.) [1]

'How depraved can you be…' Rin sighed to himself before keeping his gaze resolutely on those delicious globes peeking out of Shura's pink frilly panties. A shame she wasn't facing his way… "Wait, your clothes were burnt, but your bodies and underwear were untouched. Doesn't this mean I have _some_ control?" he exclaimed triumphantly.

"Not at all!" Rin didn't need to look at Yukio to know that he had one of those freezing, angry look on his face.

"I'll bring some holy water." Rin did look, however, when Yukio started to walk away. His eyes roamed that naked back freely, mesmerized by the fluid movement under the expanse of smooth skin, and couldn't help but wonder if the rest of Yukio's body had as many moles as his face. He was almost sad to see the overcoat hiding Yukio's firm, well-shaped ass from view.

"Why so worried? Aren't ya used to the Scaredy-eyes' anger?" Rin heard Shura grumble, her voice breaking the haze in his mind. "Give me yer shirt, rascal."

The teen unbuttoned his clothes reluctantly. "Of course, I am. He's got a stick up his ass!" Wrong thing to say. Now his imagination was acting vividly.

"Damn right." Luckily, Shura wasn't paying attention to him.

Rin sighed inwardly. 'What's wrong with me…?'

It wasn't the first time he'd seen Yukio so scantily clad. In fact, they often bathed together when they were kids, and Rin didn't feel like _this_ _(all hot and bothered)_ when he helped wash Yukio's scrawny, fragile-seeming back, then.

And at one point, as they grew up, they stopped.

Even with the shared (gender segregated) bathroom at the dorm, they hadn't been taking a bath together.

(Because Yukio always went home late.)

With this kind of guilt, Rin's thoughts quickly left the gutter. 'The next weekend we have, I'll tell him to get more rest,' he promised himself.

And about his inappropriate desire, well, if he left it alone, it would take care of itself.

For now, Rin grinned at Shura and boldly gawked at the swell of her breasts tightly pressed against his shirt. There were plenty of distractions.

* * *

><p>16.<p>

Rin landed on his bum, the poor flesh smacking against the floor with a muffled thud.

"Ouch!" he complained as Shura and Mephisto made a more graceful entry.

"Be thankful there's rug covering the wooden tiles," the woman told him.

Rin was really, really tempted to stick his tongue out at her. He threw his face away from her with a 'hmph!' instead.

And was treated to the sight of a huge wooden spinning wheel at the centre of the room, rotating by itself as though operated by magic. [2] Spindles of red threads were carelessly piled around it, along with a plethora of weirdly shaped tools, strewn all over the shelves, tables, any horizontal spaces that weren't the ground.

"Wah!" Rin gaped as he rose to his feet. "What are these…?" he bent down to eye a roll of bandage better. There were words inked onto the off-white fabric. It didn't look like a medical item. A pair of shears was lying next to it, various bells attached to the steel handle. Rin reached out to touch it.

"If I were you, I'd rather not," someone suddenly said from behind the shadows, "unless you want your red string of fate severed."

A tall, lanky man appeared before the three of them, his straight hair dark as midnight, falling to his cheeks and chin. The white robe he was dressed in offered a stark contrast to the tangled black and red lines embroidered against the fabric covering his arms and legs. The only other thing Rin could see clearly were his cat-like eyes, transparent blue, the only bright pinpoints of light in the dim space.

Overcame with shock, Rin reflexively recoiled from the scissors, nearly knocking against Mephisto who was standing behind him. When he came to himself, Rin only scratched his head and laughed. "Oh, but I don't have any red string of fate."

The man who couldn't be anyone but 'the Matchmaker' smirked as he approached them. "You're so blind. Blissfully ignorant."

"Huh?"

The Matchmaker had shifted his attention to Mephisto and Shura. "What pleasant surprises I receive today," he said to the two of them, his tone suggestive. Unlike the vermillion-haired woman who had a huge scowl on her face, the Matchmaker looked incredibly pleased with himself. "How may I help you, Sa...ah, you still go by 'Johann' these days, right?" The name was spoken in a mocking tone.

Mephisto's brow twitched. He was smiling in an easygoing manner, but Rin could sense he was irked. "We need to find out who is the soulmate of an unconscious person…or shall we say, a human who was just turned to a demon," the King of Time baited.

"Hmm," the Matchmaker found an untouched surface on a dresser and planted his elbow there, leaning on his hand like he was bored, contemplating if they were worth his time or not.

Rin's heart was stuck in his throat. Mentally, he was preparing to beg. In the short tunnel of space they arrived here through, Shura had warned him that the Matchmaker was an extremely heartless and capricious magician, who sold suspicious tools and was stingy with his assistance.

But it seemed, this time Rin didn't have to get down on his knees just yet.

"All right," the cat-like man shrugged. "Lead the way, half-demon."

TBC

* * *

><p>Review please!<p>

Notes:

1. This scene is all thanks to AO3's Psycho_Love's comment for chapter 3. Without it, I wouldn't have thought of this.

2. The Matchmaker loosely plays the role of Moirai, wiki/Moirai, which was introduced to me by the super awesome **SuperiorDimwit**.


	6. 17-18

17.

"What are you getting Rin tomorrow, Yuki-chan?" Shiemi asked.

"Eh?" the Upper-Second Class exorcist blankly stared at the newly graduated Tamer Meister in his care.

Shiemi pouted. "Tomorrow is the anniversary of your bonding! Don't tell me you forgot!"

Yukio blinked.

He…did. Forget.

"The first few years, I can understand. We were all so busy with the first wave of Illuminati's attacks," the blonde girl's green eyes glossed over, like she was lost in the past, until she shook her head. "Now that we are going through some peace, missing an anniversary is unforgivable!" she glared at him.

Her scolding was, at best, still cute to him. "Shiemi-san, you know…" he lost his words.

Her gaze turned understanding at once. "I know the circumstances of your bonding weren't ideal, but that you're connected to your soulmate, that's worth celebrating!"

Yukio only sighed in response. He and his brother were supposed to be soulmates, yet what they did in the humdrum of exorcism, when there were few Illuminati or Satan-related crises to be handled, was just arguing.

But Rin…never said, 'I was right!' to Yukio when the younger male was proven wrong, let alone brag about it. Rin patiently forgave, taking blames as they were, not to teach Yukio a lesson.

In contrast, Yukio always hung up on every fear that had come to pass, believing them representative of the future…

"That constipated look again!" A different time, a different place. Shura heaved her breath at her colleague as he stoned behind his desktop's screen. "Rin will love anything you give him, ya noe."

"Hah?"

Shura huffed out an uncontained laughter. "Whatever yer thinking is on yer face!" The knight poked him on the forehead, right between his brows. "I told ya to stop worrying before y'got premature wrinkles!"

Though she missed a little, the well-endowed woman was still sharp. She'd always been.

"Why does everyone remember it?" Yukio muttered under his breath. '_And not me?_' A stab of guilt hit him under his ribcage.

Shura cackled. "Who wouldn't? It was such a spectacle!"

Yukio's face turned bright red. Before his blood vessels burst, he decided to ignore her teasing (as usual) and actually got down to thinking of presents.

'_Hmm…Kurikara looks like it needs some polishing. Come to think of it, Nii-san needs new boots, too… Oh a sewing kit may be a good idea, considering how many times he's torn his clothes during missions over the past one month…_'

Wait.

Pause.

Why did Yukio only think of what Rin might need?

What about what Rin _wanted_?

Yukio's mind went blank.

Something cold passed over him.

Yukio thought of what Rin could possibly do for him (if he didn't forget the anniversary…wait, he wouldn't, someone was bound to remind him – like they reminded Yukio): his favourite meals, a massage after a bath, a cuddle with his chilly feet tucked under the furnace of Rin's body. Things that comforted him, things Yukio wanted.

Deeds Yukio had no skills whatsoever (or right body temperature) to return in kind.

'_Nii-san_,' Yukio wondered as his eyes fell onto the ring on his little finger, the glare of the fluorescent lamp above him reflected on the runes etched on the metal. '_I'm really not a good bondmate material, am I?_'

The ring, of course, didn't answer.

* * *

><p>18.<p>

Despite the fact that everyone was not-so-furtively eyeballing him, the Matchmaker sashayed confidently after Rin, Shura and Mephisto as they zigzagged through the maze that was the makeshift camp of True Cross Order at the Illuminati's half-ruined facility.

Before the cat-like wizard even entered the operating theatre that housed the unconscious body of Yukio on the mattress, the former yawned. "That's what got you so desperate? What a letdown."

"What did you say!?" Rin's fuse blew. He never reacted well to anyone badmouthing Yukio.

The Matchmaker blithely ignored the half-demon, and picked at his cuticles. "Not that interesting…or is he?" his transparent blue eyes twinkled in amusement.

"You-" Rin raised his fist. If it was clear that the wizard wouldn't spare an effort for them, he would, without holding back-

Before Rin could throw the punch, his wrist was seized in an iron grip, the fingers curled around his wrist forcefully and hurt like a bitch. "Oooww let go you dumbaaaas-"

Rin didn't even get to finish his scream when the Matchmaker's other hand grabbed the boy's left pinky and yanked. Hard.

Rin scrunched his eyes closed, expecting his finger to be disjointed from his palm. When he didn't feel any pain, he peeked out of one eye.

A bandage seemingly materialized from thin air from said pinky, magic written on the fabric in dull crimson ink, old and frayed. And that pinky itself was unharmed, unchanged, save for-

A red string, tied tightly around the base.

"Unsealed," the Matchmaker looked so smug as he let go of the half-demon completely. "No need to thank me."

But Rin didn't even notice him anymore. His world boiled down to the single thread around his finger, the connection he had yearned for for the last ten years of his life. Everything else fell away. His wide eyes stared at it hungrily (_afraid that it would disappear, so used was he to nothingness, to its absence; afraid that it was just his imagination_), following it as it trailed away from his pinky…

Straight to the pale, unmoving little finger of the teenager on the gurney.

A myriad of emotions and half-finished thoughts flashed through Rin's mind, jumbling and tangling till he couldn't pry them apart, couldn't tell what to think, couldn't tell if he was shocked relieved disgusted disappointed _elated-_

"What's going on?" Someone asked, frantic and high-pitched, as Rin's shoulders were shaken. Rin couldn't register who it was. "What happened to Yuki-chan? How did things turn this way?"

"So who is Okumura Yukio's soulmate?" Another voice asked, an older, raspy timber.

"Why don't you asked the stunned guy?" A mocking reply.

"Rin-kun!" a firm voice took over, excitement underlying the even tone. He must have figured something out. "Are you Okumura-sensei's soulmate?" [1]

"What!?"

"Bonding half-demons together, such a dangerous-"

"Incestuous? How sinful!"

"Wait, wait! Siblings as soulmates, that's not unheard of-"

A cacophony of questions, comments, opinions, exploded all around them. Crowding in the noises in his head.

"Rin-kun!" That firm voice spoke loudly, overpowering the rest with the sense of urgency in his tone. "What colour is Okumura-sensei's thread?"

That brought Rin out of the muddle. "Huh?" He raised his head, and was met with Mephisto's serious amber-green gaze.

"Is it red? Or black?" he expanded impatiently. "Humans' threads are red, but those of Gehena-"

Rin caught on, and quickly studied the short distance of the thread between them again. "It's red!" he exclaimed happily once he was almost halfway through. Some sighs of relief were released around them, until…

"There's…" Rin stared at the ring of symbol wrapped around the midpoint of his (His!) and Yukio's red string, dense and full of spiky drawings he didn't understand.

"There's…what?" Arthur barked impatiently.

But Rin couldn't hear the Paladin. His eyes were locked onto the other end of the string, the loop around Yukio's pinky. The gradation was only an inch long, but… "It's…" he couldn't finish the word.

_Black_.

The Matchmaker chuckled. "Told you…this may be interesting after all."

TBC

Review please!

* * *

><p>Note:<p>

1. I tell you, Mephisto very seldom calls Rin by name. He almost always just says, 'you'. Luckily I heard him say 'Rin-kun' at the end of episode 2. Otherwise I have no idea if he called Rin 'Okumura-kun' or 'Rin' or…plenty of variations! Ah, the details of Japanese…


	7. 19-20

19.

"What are you getting the young teacher?" Suguro asked his training partner.

"Hah?" Rin responded with an unintelligible noise from his throat. His finger hovered over the button. "Why do you still call him 'young teacher'? He isn't our teacher anymore. In any case, are you ready?"

"Habit," the tall, athletic young man with multiple piercings replied. He might have grown out of his blonde cockscomb, but he rather liked his earrings. Suguro finished lining up his loaded magazines and raised the semi-automatic pistols in his hands. He was better with a bazooka, but well, sharpshooting skills had their uses. "I'm ready."

Rin pressed, a grin on his face, before he passed his wooden sword to his dominant hand. "Let's go!"

"Infinity Mode, selected," the machine announced. And multiple baseballs flew toward them at an alarming speed.

Rin hit each of them with a loud thwack, the comforting sound of bullets colliding against their target coming from Suguro's side. The knight was enjoying the chance to work some muscles when the Aria-Dragoon Meister spoke again. "Seriously, do you forget about tomorrow?"

"What's happening tomorrow-" Rin began absently, his concentration on the baseballs, until he suddenly remembered. "Ah…the anniversary."

Suguro chanced a peek at the other male. He didn't expect the normally air-headed guy to realize on his own. "So?"

Rin smirked. "Of course, we will $3x#%, and I will suck-"

A vein popped on Suguro's temple. "Keep me out of your bedroom, dude!" he yelled. "Nope, doesn't break my concentration."

"You got me!" Rin laughed and managed a shrug before he swung at another ball. "Let's see…I'll cook him his favourite foods, give him a foot rub as he read those long and boring reports of his in front of the telly, then…hmm I'll go with the flow."

Suguro blinked and nearly missed his magazine as he reloaded one of his guns. "That's…nice. But…not really special isn't it?" he remarked after he recovered. "You cook for him every day. The pampering is, while not often, something you treat him to from time to time…"

Rin didn't respond. Suguro thought that the conversation had ended, but it turned out the half-demon was just thinking.

"A party with a bang is not Yukio's style." Suguro didn't know if Rin noticed, but the knight had an incredibly tender expression on his face as he talked about his brother. His bondmate. His one and only brother and bondmate. "If anything, it'll probably make that worrywart feel pressured to...'make it up' to me. I gotta let him know I appreciate him in little ways," Rin said and grinned at the other exorcist.

And a ball sailed over his head, hitting the net behind him.

"Ah," both Suguro and Rin exclaimed, the former in observation and the latter in a horrified tone.

"My lunch is on you!" Suguro declared first.

"No! It didn't count! No!" Rin whined as he circled the monk's son, baseballs still whirling past them. "I was saying something so cool back there!"

Suguro hit the stop button of the machine, and scanned over his friend. His half-demon, Satan's son of a friend, who had showcased more insights and capacity to love than he seemed physically capable of.

Conscious of being watched, Rin cocked his head. "…what?"

The taller man hid his smile with a sigh. "I'll pretend I didn't see that ball."

"Oh!" Rin jumped in the air with his fist raised in a punch. "I knew it! Suguro-"

"Go out now and at least get the young teacher a present!" The Aria hid his embarrassment with an order.

"I will!" Rin headed to the exit, his tail wagging behind him. As he waved, the ring around his little finger caught the glint of the light.

* * *

><p>20.<p>

"Hey, have you heard?"

Samael tried his best to ignore the beast lounging on his sofa.

"That Yukio-chan…he went around you and told the Grigori his intentions," the woman chuckled. "The plan you disapprove of."

Samael…had an inkling. The confirmation didn't brighten his day. He sighed at the mixed-blood descendant of the all-knowing Oriental mythical beast. "And then?"

She leaned forward, covering half his desk with her torso so suddenly his chair skidded as he jerked back. "He's not going to be an easy pawn to control."

Samael narrowed his eyes. "How kind of you to tell me," he said sarcastically.

She chuckled at him. "By the way, Samael," Takani Yuuko's eyes gleamed golden, her pupils straight vertical lines instead of rounded _human_ ones, "am I right in assuming you won't do anything about the thread between you and Shura-chan?"

Samael's blood ran cold. "You're here because you need our protection from the Illuminati, you scion of _Bai Ze_," he reminded her. [1]

Her smirk only widened.

"I'm not very patient, Samael," she sang-song as she sashayed out of his office.

Samael waited till she was completely gone before he slumped in his seat.

"…You should have kept your woman on a tighter leash, Azazel."

…_What troublesome brothers I have._

TBC

1. Bai Ze is a real Chinese mythical beast. Please check it out on wikipedia.

* * *

><p><strong>Review please!<strong> Yes, I won't give up telling you to!

Those of you who know this story from AO3 will notice: yes, the version on FFnet has begun to diverge from the one you've read on AO3.

AND fear not…this story won't be overrun by OCs! I don't like OCs much, I only use them because they play a certain role, e.g. the Matchmaker.

A/N: What terrible days. I did reach home at 10pm every day from Monday. Yesterday I even worked from home until 2am. And my I-hate-her-guts roomie-! Ah, I better not start lest it turns to a rant…

* * *

><p>Reply to <strong>outlogged<strong>: Followed your suggestion to reply at the end :). I always try to reply my reviewers. Having a conversation with readers makes me happiest! Ahaha I didn't really take a rest…Thanks for taking the effort to review even though it was midnight there.

_"…there is this picture of them taking a bath together with their father…"_ – where? I didn't know it exists! Link please?

Yes, I edited 'Samael' to 'Johann' because I can't remember if the Order is aware that Mephisto is the King of Time, second/third strongest in Gehena after Satan and Lucifer, or not. If I were the Order, I wouldn't trust Samael; I will suspect him of using me for his own gains. So yeah, most likely they don't.

I'm the reverse, Yukio is the one character I understand 'best'. Ah, yes, I was influenced by the anime Mephisto when I wrote that…Mephisto of the anime was generally more supportive, compared to Mephisto of the manga who sent a gang of Exwires to the Illuminati's nest! Anyways, I might edit the tone of Mephisto's dialogue in no. 18 later if you find it too out of character.

Hm, even though Yukio was unconscious, it was obvious he had turned into a demon (having a tail), so the Order would rather stay close to him. I also want to amplify Rin's confusion to readers, hearing too many voices, no time to form an opinion, etc.

I guess I get more excited in telling the story I didn't write very short scenes anymore. Anyway, no. 20 is for you :).

Hope you enjoyed the update!


	8. 21-22

21

The reason why Samael interfered was only one.

Now that he was aware of Lucifer's plans, it would have been too risky to let him have Yukio.

Samael would eliminate anything that would threaten him off the playground he so loved.

Or so he believed.

(_Sentimentality has no place amongst demons._)

* * *

><p><em>Life's a bitch, so if it's easy, you're doing it wrong<br>Stop, which way is the world going? Then ignore it and go wherever (here we go)._

"Core Pride", by UVERworld

* * *

><p>22.<p>

"W-what the hell is that!?" Rin pointed at the ring of spikes that rested around the red string of fate shared by him and Yukio. Rin sensed powers terribly eerie and repulsive emanating from it, like a ball of hatred and other negative emotions. "I'm sure it's that thing's fault!"

(_It's easier to focus on fixing what's wrong, instead of figuring out of what he was feeling. What he should be feeling._)

"Could you explain what you've seen!?" Arthur shouted exasperatedly, his shoulders tensed. His fellow Upper-First Class exorcists were similarly poised. They looked ready to bolt.

"Ah, that symbol is the result of a magic item I used to sell, I believe," the Matchmaker blithely ignored the atmosphere and aggravated everyone with more cryptic sentences. "But if you're talking about your unconscious-kun's thread's colour…that's not my tool's fault." [1]

Rin snapped at the blue-eyed magician and seized him by the collar in the blink of an eye. "Stop beating around the bush!" he snarled so forcefully one could hear the taller man's bones rattle. "Why on earth would you sell tools that suspicious? It feels totally disgusting."

"Suspicious?" the Matchmaker sounded miffed. He dislodged his captor by flicking his middle finger against Rin's temple, sending the teenager to his bottom. "That tool was crafted for good!"

"Ouch!" Rin rubbed at his reddened skin and gaped, but quickly pulled out of his amazement. "How so!?"

"Strings of fate don't get cut when the person at the other end die, you know?" the Matchmaker heaved a deep breath dramatically, "you're reminded of the loss every time you accidentally look at it…and can't move on with life. That's quite common."

As he spoke, the mood shifted southward a little. A few of the exorcists around them dropped their gazes to their own pinkies, their expressions bleak.

"And so," the Matchmaker began again, "my tool cuts them. Strings that have already turned black."

"Ha…" Rin didn't react for a while, until his eyes widened. He looked horrified. "You mean-"

One of the Grigori sighed, interrupting the dialogue that only revolved around the two of them, like Rin and the Matchmaker were in a bubble of their own. "Judging from your conversation, it seems Okumura Yukio's thread has started to blacken," the hooded figure deduced.

Rin flinched again before he gritted his teeth, his fists clenching. He closed the distance between him and the gurney, warily eyeing the Grigori and the Paladin for the first time since the blinds that prevented him to see his thread was unsealed. The first time he registered their presence again.

"So it's concluded," Arthur wrapped one hand around his Excalibur. "Okumura Yukio has turned into a demon." He leaned forward, adjusting his stance.

Rin turned his back fully against his brother, shielding him from the rest of the Order. Blue flames started entering his eyes.

"Don't be so trigger-happy, baldy," Shura, who had been hovering quietly in observation, interfered. Rin was thankful she could be depended on to defend Yukio.

"Well, she's right. No need to be hasty," Mephisto placed himself between the Paladin and the Okumura brothers. "He may be more demonic than human now, but Okumura-sensei hasn't completely lost himself to his demon, yet. I'm 100% demonic, and my string is pitch black, but I'm on your side, am I not?" He opened his arms in a wide gesture.

The Grigori and Arthur only responded with guarded stares.

The Matchmaker snickered. "You're so loved, Johann," he patted the taller male on the shoulder mockingly.

The demon narrowed his eyes at the cat-like wizard. "In any case," he snubbed the Matchmaker. "Gentlemen, please: I believe fate has dealt us a better hand than we could ever have hoped for! Who would be more suited to stabilize our newly awakened Okumura-sensei than a half-demon who has already learnt to master his demonic heritage and remain human at heart?"

Members of the Vatican Order around them broke into whispers again. On the contrary, the solution did not make them look at east at all.

"This looks bad," Konekomaru, who was standing at a corner with the other exwires, all of them trying to piece together an explanation despite having only been reunited with the Okumura brothers after the Matchmaker entered the picture. This mission had been way more chaotic than Kyoto. "Okumura-kun isn't exactly a sterling example of trustworthiness to the Vatican…"

Suguro gulped, his hand keeping Shiemi's still as the girl worried, helping her ground herself. "But he defeated the Impure King for the Order," he frowned. "Surely…"

The monk's son fell silent as one of the Grigori began to speak. "Let's say, we're taking this risk," his voice was, thankfully, firm. He knew he had to sound confident for the organization. "What type of bond will be our best bet?"

"Don't play dumb," the Matchmaker tutted. "They already share a filial bond. If the Nii-san is serious about wanting to exert influence on his Otouto to help control the demon, a platonic bond is out of the question. It's too weak."

"So the romantic bond is our only option," the Grigori insisted on spelling it out in the open. As he said it, he kept his face toward Rin.

"That's right," the Matchmaker, too, turned to the knight-in-training.

And they weren't the only ones to do so. In fact, now the whole room seemed to have their eyes on Rin.

"Eh?" Rin stepped back, conscious of the weight of all the stares. "Then…we should wait until Yukio wakes, right?"

"There is no need," the soulmate expert shrugged. "As long as the bonding spells are set up, a kiss on the lips will initiate the consummation ritual. After the initiation, both parties would be compelled to complete the bonding. This means, the initiation would also wake him up," he waved vaguely in Yukio's direction.

Rin blanched, his back hitting the mattress. His hands scrabbled for support, and settled on the edges of the gurney, the fingers of his right hand touching Yukio's bare skin. All of a sudden, he felt a little lighter. "I still want to ask Yukio first." Thanks to that, he was able to exert his opinion and hold his grounds against the Grigori and the rest of the Order, his gaze strong.

Rin's response only sent the Matchmaker to a hysterical laughter. "You're so funny!" he laughed so hard tears actually leaked out of his luminous eyes. "You don't know your position at all, do you? We don't know how fast the blackness is going to spread from his end to yours," he touched the string, actually bringing it closer to Rin's face like it was a tangible thing. The sensation felt so violating Rin cringed. "And once that blackness hit my symbol…" he brought his hands together to a prayer position, fingers locked tightly together, only to yank them apart dramatically. "Bam! That's what will happen to your string! If you consummate, you have a chance of overpowering that symbol. Otherwise..."

Suddenly, Rin felt like the floor beneath him had given way…and he was freefalling. To finally, _finally_ know that there was someone only for him, that he wouldn't be alone, to have that taken away from him again so soon…

"B-but-" he choked in despair, his chest so tight it was hard to breathe. "Y-you're suggesting I just…force him to have sex while he's unconscious? That's-!"

Rin couldn't finish his sentence.

The Matchmaker waved his hand flippantly again. Rin really, really wanted to beat the shit out of him. "That's your choice. Now, my part is done. Johann, take me home!" the whimsical man dragged the Principal of True Cross Academy out of sight.

Rin dropped to the floor, his knees giving out, and seemingly crumpled into a ball. Yukio would hate him. He didn't want to hurt Yukio. He didn't want to lose Yukio, either.

Everything seemed hopeless.

In his desperation, his eyes sought for his brother. The rise and fall of Yukio's chest comforted him for a while, until his eyes inadvertently fall on the dragoon's hand, one of the few parts of his body not covered by clothes or the bedding.

And Rin's heart plunged to the floor.

Because the black had grown several inches down.

TBC

Review please!

1. The Matchmaker's character design is based on Noragami's Yato. But mostly only his appearance. His disregard of people is Yato's, but his mischievous ways are from Mephisto. Well, both are voiced by the talented Kamiya Hiroshi-sama who can perform any role from the gentle Natsume Takashi, the cool Levi Ackerman and of course our scheming Mephisto.

* * *

><p>Follow-up with <strong>miraimiku<strong>: To answer you fully, against his better judgment, Shirou wrapped the seal around Rin's left little finger when he was a baby. Not everyone have strings connecting them to others, and it's easier for Rin to think he's never got any.

* * *

><p>Reply to <strong>outlogged<strong>: I always look forward to your reviews because you're observant, detailed and enthusiastic. I'm very happy because you made an effort for me, too :) Thanks so much for the gusto and the kind words! I was grinning so wide on the subway to work in the morning when you mentioned your brains turning to mush. I didn't think I'll be able to do that to anyone! Nobody else looked that happy to commute to work haha.

I ended up taking a break haha one day to write an update for my AO3 version, and one day just to consolidate my thoughts from your and SuperiorDimwit's reviews, what changes do I want to make to this story, etc. Well, Monday's a public holiday for me XD. I'll be writing over the weekend!

The censored part is not meant to represent a word, but sentences of Rin vulgarly sharing details of his sex life with Bon. I changed the 'keep it PG' line because SuperiorDimwit feedback that men normally don't blush in reaction to sex talk. Btw, PG stands for 'Parental Guide'. It's a rating; any material with 'PG' is safe for children to read/watch, with guidance from parents.

The AO3 version is WAY AHEAD of the FFnet, and even though they've started to diverge, it's still mostly the sequence of the scenes. Don't worry, I consider the FFnet version the better one (with proofread and edited sentences and all).

Mephisto is the one character I'm careful to write about, depending on whose POV it is. Yukio refers to him as Sir Pheles or Mephisto. Rin refers to him as King of Time or clown or Mephisto. Only when it's Samael's POV himself his true name would be used.

"The fanfiction isn't perfect" – wah, not that anything can be perfect, but this sentence stood out. I know you're frank and won't hesitate to share your thoughts. Please continue to do so, and tell me anything you're unhappy with.

I don't post my fics at a fixed time, but generally if on weekdays, 11pm-2am GMT+8. If on weekends, can be anytime.


	9. 23-25

A/N: Outlogged and SuperiorDimwit have kindly reminded me to write Bon/Shiemi too, so here it is! A long update for you today!

* * *

><p>23.<p>

"I heard from Renzou that you've found the other end of your string!" The Okami said enthusiastically and eyed the group of exwires around the entrance with much interest. "Who's she? Introduce her to me, you chicken-haired son!"

Shiemi's heart rose to her throat.

"Not chicken-" Ryuuji-kun insisted, before he shot the blonde girl a concerned gaze. 'You don't have to if you don't want to,' seemed to be what he was trying to convey to her.

Shiemi couldn't have stayed silent. She stepped forward and gave the Okami her best bow. "N-nice to meet you! I'm Moriyama Shiemi."

"Ah," Shiemi felt the woman's eyes scrutinizing her before a hand was laid on her shoulder. "What a cute girl! Nice to meet you too, Moriyama." The beautiful woman smiled at her kindly. "Now! Tell me, has my boy been treating you well?"

"Uh," Shiemi's own smile was slipping. A beat passed before she could reply timidly, "Yes, Ryuuji-kun is kind and intelligent…"

_What generic words! _Shiemi was mortified. _She's going to think that I'm disinterested in her son and unworthy of him!_

The Okami's expression belayed that she'd noticed something was wrong.

Fortunately, Kirigakure-sensei gave a timely interruption. "Okami, thank you in advance for taking care of us for such a long time."

Shiemi heaved a sigh of relief as the two older females proceeded to engage in a conversation.

"Moriyama, Kamiki, Takara, Okumura, you will follow Yunokawa-sensei and assist him…" Kirigakure-sensei instructed as the Okami led Ryuuji-kun, Shima-kun and Miwa-kun away. Shiemi was thankful that she didn't have to face Ryuuji-kun's mother for a while.

Still, the news must have travelled fast, because Shiemi could feel the stares of many helpers of the inn and Kyoto branch's exorcists on her.

"Here," that evening, Ryuuji-kun looked apologetic as he passed her a box of bentou for dinner. "I'm sorry they're so nosy."

"No…" Shiemi shook her head as she made more space on the porch for Ryuuji-kun to sit next to her. The backyard was quiet, in contrast to the ruckus inside. The Suguro, Shima and Houjou were such a tight unit they were an extended family. Having lived only with her mother and grandmother, the liveliness was alien, but much welcome.

"Still, sorry they were interfering with your work," Ryuuji-kun remarked as he chewed on his rice.

Shiemi's face burned. So the monk's son had heard of her mistakes. "T-that's my own careless-"

A hand on the back of her exposed neck stopped her from completing her sentence.

"You shouldn't be so harsh to yourself, Moriyama-san," Ryuuji-kun told her. "We're all out of sorts because of what happened with Okumura. You're not the only one." He bent down his head as his shoulders slumped. "I should have cared for you better against the overbearing gang of people they call my family."

"N-no!" Shiemi placed one hand on Ryuuji-kun's knee and faced him head on. "I, I'll be more reliable! Strong like the weed!"

Ryuuji-kun finally met her eyes. He stared at her for a moment before a kind smile broke on his face, dissolving the harsh lines that had made Shiemi scared of him in the beginning. "You protected us from the naberius. You're plenty strong and bold already, Moriyama-san."

Shiemi blushed for a completely different reason. It was so rare to see this gentleness on the teen boy's face. "K-kamiki-san also said I'm bold." [1]

"Don't compare me to the eyebrows!" Ryuuji-kun quickly remarked, his expression pinched.

Shiemi chuckled. [2] "Ryuuji-kun, again? Why-"

Before she knew it, Shiemi was already enveloped in an embrace, Ryuuji-kun's long arms wrapped around her.

"Ryuu-ryuuji-kun!?" The blood vessels on Shiemi's face were going to burst from the amount of times she'd blushed that day.

"I…I was concerned about you, in the shinkansen," Ryuuji-kun was trembling. He squeezed her tighter. "The blue flames…"

Shiemi calmed down. She closed her eyes and laid her hand on his solid, broad frame. "They were warm, Ryuuji-kun," she whispered, "We can trust Rin."

Ryuuji-kun sighed. "I hope so."

They stayed like that for a while.

* * *

><p>24.<p>

"A-ah," Samael shook his head at the male walking ahead of him in the space tunnel bridging the laboratories they just left to the exotic comforts of the robed magician's home. "Don't you think you were too harsh to them," the tall demon twirled his umbrella and cocked his head, "Azazel?" [3]

The King of Spirits smirked. "Not at all, Aniue."

"They're our brothers, you know," the King of Time caught up with the wayward demon, who sided with neither the humans nor Lucifer. "You should grant them some mercy."

Azazel looked at his elder brother like the latter was slow. "_Because_ they're our brothers, we should tease them. I know you prescribe to this as well."

Samael laughed loudly. "Not as much as you." He'd forgotten how sadistic the blue-eyed demon was. Indeed, if Amaimon's temporary form was a hamster's, Azazel's would be a cat's.

"Speaking of brothers…" said blue eyes were sparkling mischievously at him. "What do you intend to do about the boobie-babe, Aniue?" the lanky demon flashed his taller kin a lewd grin.

Samael sighed. He knew the conversation would head this way. That sadism was indiscriminate, after all.

"How about nothing?" he raised his left hand, and removed his glove. The little finger exposed by his action flickered, before revealing multiple loops of strings, all tied around the base, branching off to different directions [4]. "You know my connections are numerous."

And the last time he went after two of them, well…his alias' namesake met his demise and his companion, he had to let die.

(_No, he chose to let die._)

It was Azazel's turn to sigh. "So cut them or go after them again," he crossed his arms. "It's unlike you to do nothing, Aniue."

Samael's only reply was a sardonic smile.

(_You're wrong, Otouto. As a chess master, my best ability was to wait till the pieces come together._)

* * *

><p>25.<p>

Okumura Yukio was a ticking bomb.

To the Vatican's True Cross Order, the longer they wait, the more certain they felt that the highly-skilled doctor-cum-dragoon would go berserk the moment he opened his eyes, and wield destruction in the wake of his intelligence. As the threat, he was best dealt with when he was still asleep, helpless and unable to retaliate in defense.

To Rin, the longer he wait, the shorter the distance of red got to the bristly, nauseating contraption that would sever him from the one person who was born for him.

No. Born so he could be a companion to.

"What are we waiting for!?" Arthur Auguste Angel threw one hand toward the unconscious teenager, who now had his hands, feet and torso strapped to the gurney. "The Satan's spawn is clearly unwilling to initiate the consummation! We should remove the threat before-"

The statement got Rin out of his flunk. He rose to his tallest height and bristled at the Paladin. "Yukio is a human! Don't you ever-"

The long-haired blonde was taken aback for a second before he returned hotly. "No, he's a demon!"

Rin was so angry his sight was turning blue. He snarled and swung his fist. "Shut-"

"Step back, baldy!" Shura got between the two hot-blooded men, and smacked them on the face with her palms. "Yew too, Rin!"

Shocked by the woman's audacity, the male knights obeyed her reflexively. The fleeting moment of confusions was enough for the vermilion-haired ninja to steer the younger male to another corner. "Give us fifteen minutes," she ordered the room in general without sparing them a glance.

Nobody moved, aside from turning their heads to each other for with questioning eyes.

"Now!" she barked, her voice a hundred times louder.

"Let's go," one of the Grigori took the cue, and ushered the exorcists out.

Suguro laid a hand on Konekomaru when the bespectacled monk was going to leave. "We're staying," Shiemi, too, had the same resolute gaze as she faced Shura head on.

They had only just found each other for less than a year, yet the soulmates had unknowingly become so synchronized.

(Or, may be, _because_ they were aligned, they were soulmates.)

Shura gave them a nod. "Close the door. And come closer."

Silence fell upon them as they waited for the room to clear. Only after Shura checked that nobody was listening in (though everyone was still watching through the two-way mirror of the operating theatre, she could tell), she faced the son Shirou entrusted her with. "Do you still remember your goal?"

Her cold voice and proper figure of speech made Rin gape. This must be the first time he heard her speaking to him that way. "Yes…?"

Her violet irises turned harsh. "Where is your resolve? You said you want to defeat Satan!"

Rin began to catch on. "Yes! To become Paladin and to defeat Satan!" he stood up straight and renewed his vow to himself. His eyes hardened as they fell on his teacher. "But not at the cost of anyone else! I train as an exorcist so that nobody has to die in my place!"

Shura crossed her arms. "That's not enough!" her facial expression didn't budge. "Your stand isn't clear enough! What do you wish for Yukio? What do you believe he _wants_?" she asked rapidly.

The last question was like a slap on Rin's face. Because he hadn't been thinking of what Yukio wished for at all; he'd been thinking of himself.

"…I-" the half-demon looked down at his shaking hand, then peered at Yukio's still form. He still didn't know what to do with the knowledge that his brother was his soulmate. But, above anything else… "I…I don't want to lose him," his voice was shaking.

"Nngh…"

As the two of them talked, a moan was heard from the mattress. Everyone turned his or her heads to find droopy turquoise eyes blinking blearily at them.

"…Nii…san?" a voice croaked, brittle and fragile.

"Yukio!" the relief that flooded into his chest was so tremendous Rin almost had no strength to stand and support his own weight. He basically draped himself over his younger brother. "I'm so glad you're awake!"

But his happiness wasn't shared by the taller Okumura, it seemed, because Yukio's eyes were filled with terror. "I-it…wasn't a dream…" he whispered weakly as he took in the straps, the tail lying next to his legs, the claws on his hands, and the weird symbol around his string. Suddenly he jerked, rattling the gurney hard, and screamed as he was engulfed in a blue flame. "Aarrghh!"

"Yukio!" as the exorcists poured back into the room, Rin climbed on top of his twin and grabbed his biceps. "Take a deep breath and calm down! Focus away from your fears and panic!"

Thankfully, Yukio seemed to still be able to understand Rin's instructions. He inhaled sharp, long breaths and scrunched his eyes, but the situation didn't improve.

"Damn!" Rin couldn't keep the curse in his throat anymore. The dragoons and knights of Vatican had raised their weapons against them. "We have no choice! Let's consummate our soul bond!"

Yukio, who had been wriggling and shaking since the flame engulfed him, unexpectedly froze. Perfectly still as a statue.

"Ah…" his gasp was quiet as a breeze as his eyes zeroed in on Rin's little finger. "It's visible."

A sharp stab of anger hit Rin's chest and gnawed under his ribcages, causing a growl to escape from his mouth. Why was he even surprised that Yukio had always known that they were soulmates, but never revealed this knowledge to Rin? This was the boy who had hidden the fact that he could see demons from his brother for fifteen years after all.

Quiet and cold, as his namesake.

(_Why?_)

(_Why had he kept it a secret?_)

Rin swore that they _would_ have words about this, but now was not the time. "Hurry!" he leaned forward to plant his lips on the other boy's.

The blue flames, which weren't hot to Rin, suddenly spiked, and released gusts of wind so fast, so strong they were as piercing as swords. Before Rin knew it, he had already been thrown off across the room, his back hitting solid wall.

Out of his restrictions, Yukio flew to his feet, his ears and horns lengthening as the blue flames burned brighter around him.

As several exorcists nearest to him started attacking him, Yukio gave his older brother, who was catching his breath against the wall, an emotionless stare.

"No," he stated, his soft voice flat and final.

Then he disappeared through the door.

TBC

Review please!

* * *

><p>Notes:<p>

1. This conversation is not supposed to substitute Shiemi's conversation with Izumo in the manga; rather they are supposed to be complementary.

2. I consider that by this point in time, they're close enough that Shiemi no longer reacts to Bon's bursts of short tempers with fear.

3. The King of Spirits are kin to Ghosts, who are demons possessing vapours emitted by corpses. Ghosts are mostly lingering emotions of the dead, so this led me to believe that if there was one of the eight Demon 'Kings' who can manipulate strings of fate, it would be Azazel.

4. Some of you may remember in scene 22 Mephisto mentioned, "my string is pitch black." In some cases, 'tachi' is added to pronouns to indicate plurality. But Japanese grammar don't enforce having a plural form. Here, Mephisto was saying, "Waga ito wa kuroi desuga…" The noun 'ito' can be 'string' or 'strings'.

* * *

><p>Reply to <strong>outlogged<strong>: I'm fine, no worries :)!

21. Katou-sensei commented that demons experience watered-down feelings compared to humans. I never heard about demons having 'closed' hearts that need to be 'opened'?

The quotes are lyrics of Ao no Exorcist's first opening song. I like to include lyrics of Japanese songs that have the same feel as the chapter to act as premonition (the title of this story itself is from a song!). The 'Core Pride' lyrics I shared was a prelude to Rin having to make a difficult choice.

22. This scene is a continuation of scene 18, which is a continuation of scene 14 and 12. The Grigori were in scene 14 and 12. They weren't mentioned in scene 18, but they were there.

I was debating against myself at first whether the three big shots need to be there or not. I need a higher-ranked figure than Arthur to be there because Arthur's black-or-white morality wouldn't allow him to let Yukio live at all, but the Grigori who had accepted Mephisto's bet, might be willing to tolerate the risks of letting Yukio live for research purposes. In my mind, this facility of Illuminati was the one that housed the artificial Gehena gate or something of similar importance, so the Grigori wanted to be present during debrief. With the awakening of Satan's second half-human son, well, all the more they wanted to there.

Homosexuality was opposed because it was 'unnatural', but if God was the one who gave them 'strings of fate' and 'soulmates', then wouldn't soulmates marrying each other be accepted as natural? Wired Life's universe mirrors our world's attitudes toward incest (definitely NO) and homosexuality (sliiightly more okay). Same-sex soulmates are way more common than sibling soulmates, after all.

Now that you know who the Matchmaker is, the "You're so loved," dialogue is inspired by Amaimon's 'Poor brother, it looks like they don't trust you.'

It didn't hurt, I just found it a little startling. I took it to mean I haven't addressed all your concerns with the story. Yes, I'm very grateful to have you and SuperiorDimwit to let me know your impressions of the story and to support me :). Thanks so much for your continued efforts to make me happy!


	10. 26-28

_If I can go on without losing my way, _  
><em>I don't mind if my heart is broken to pieces. <em>  
><em>I want a spell <em>  
><em>That can let me fight against <em>  
><em>The sorrow that is always in front of my eyes.<em>

"Magia", by Kalafina

* * *

><p>26.<p>

_The dinner table was too quiet._

"_Rin sure is late," Nagamoto commented absently, giving voice to the sentence in everyone's head._

_Yukio frowned and merely filled his mouth with more rice. He needed to read up on the brief for tomorrow's mission._

"_I'm home!" Not long after, Nii-san entered with a grin. Speaking of the devil…_

"_Welcome home, Rin!" Maruta greeted him._

"_Did you get into another fight?" Kyodo shook his head._

"_Shut up! I have other things to do, too," Nii-san might be grumbling, but he had changed the atmosphere just by his presence. Even Yukio couldn't help but smile._

"_You're not chasing girls, are you?" Izumi wriggled an eyebrow._

_Yukio waited for his routine reply. But this time, Nii-san didn't say anything. He merely stood there, his cheeks turning pink._

_Everyone's eyes widened._

_Father Fujimoto rose to his feet. "Rin, don't tell me you actually…"_

_Rin plopped himself to the empty chair and filled his bowl with dishes noisily. "As if you'd know!" he said brusquely before stuffing his mouth with food, ending any possibility of an immediate conversation._

_Yukio stared at the little finger of his left hand, the red thread looped around it unchangingly. Voices echoed in his head. 'Who? When? How did this happen? Who seduced Nii-san? Who-'_

_Suddenly, Yukio was filled with nausea. "Gochisousama," he barely managed before he got up and left. 'Nothing happened! Your imaginations just ran too wild!' he told himself._

"_Yukio-kun?" The older men asked after him, but none of them gave chase. Good._

_Later, as Yukio was summarizing the next chapter of Japanese History, finally calm again, Rin entered their shared bedroom. "Ah, so tired, so tired!" He took off his black gakuran and carelessly threw it to the hamper, missing by inches._

_Yukio twitched in irritation. "Nii-san!" he turned around, and was about to tell off his older brother, when he laid his eyes on it._

_A dark hickey on the side of Nii-san's collarbone._

_The memory crumpled into pieces._

_Toudou's grinning face filled Yukio's sight, golden eyes twinkling in glee, shadows from Karura's flames dancing on his skin._

"_Your brother is stronger than you," he spoke to the scant space between their lips, "And he gets better moral support from his friends. Nobody needs you back there."_

_Yukio tried to jerk away, open his mouth and argue, anything, but he could not move. His body didn't obey him._

_Hot fingers caressed his face. "We're different," Toudou's voice took on a more soothing quality, "we'll make you stronger."_

"_Come," the demon invited._

* * *

><p>27.<p>

Rin couldn't lift his eyes from his little finger.

He was afraid that his string would disappear when he wasn't looking.

"Where is he?" Arthur questioned Satan's son, his voice harsh with frustration. "Where did he turn to just now?"

The string, which had been moving erratically and spinning 360 degrees as Yukio dodged various exorcists and ran from them, had stayed still for a while. "The string has stopped moving," Rin replied, worrying if Yukio had been captured and was awaiting death, or he'd escaped the building and was heading far away in one direction, causing the string to appear unmoving.

The Paladin must have come to the later conclusion, because he cursed profanely.

However, after turning the corner, Rin was thankful to see the tall, bespectacled teen standing on top of a pile of rubble from a hole on the floor which had been blown to bits one storey above.

The relief was short-lived, though, because Yukio had Konekomaru in his grasp, one arm pressed threateningly against the Aria-in-training's neck.

"Don't come closer!" Yukio's flaming blue gaze were all danger and no warmth. Rin didn't know if the other half-demon even recognized him as his older brother. "Leave us alone!" he demanded as he inched backward, closer to a door at the hallway behind them.

Scared for the hostage, none of the dragoons shot. In a couple of seconds, Yukio succeeded in kicking the door open before throwing himself and his student inside.

Rin quickly ran after them, but the doorknob wouldn't budge under his hands.

"Yukio, open up!" he shouted in panic, "we have to consummate our soul bond now, or our thread will be cut!"

There was no answer from the other side for a while, until Yukio's voice could be heard, loud and clear. "Then let it be!"

If there was any hope in Rin that Yukio wished to be with him (may be, he'd misheard the genius earlier?), it was shattered upon hearing that declaration.

As Rin's head drooped in depression, Arthur turned to a fellow exorcist. "Is there any windows in that room? Any doors connecting to other rooms?"

"Wait," the bespectacled curly-haired Middle-Second class consulted a few of his colleagues before he returned with answers. "The recce team said no windows and no doors."

Arthur nodded to himself. "Any way of knowing what's happening inside?"

"They're checking whether the video surveillance system still works," the Paladin was replied immediately.

"Good," a grin finally appeared on the blonde man's face.

"Now, it's a waiting game."

* * *

><p>28.<p>

Konekomaru's head was spinning.

One moment, he was standing near the door of the operating theatre, watching Kirigakure-sensei verbally abuse Okumura-kun into decisiveness, and the next, he was already flung over Okumura-sensei's broad shoulder, watching his flaming back upside down as his captor cut through the hallways like a bullet he so often fired.

His world was, once again, scrambled out of shape. The first time it happened was during the death of his parents, and the last time was when he discovered that Okumura-kun was Satan's son.

Konekomaru never expected that he would have to fear his teacher, too. The calm-headed, knowledgeable, dependable Okumura Yukio.

'It's the end,' the bald Aria-in-training scrunched his eyes closed when the door to the room the demon would imprison him (them) in swung shut. 'Mother, Father in heaven!' he called them inwardly.

Instead, the unyielding arm left Konekomaru's neck.

"I won't hurt you," the demon said as he slumped against the wall opposite to the door, turquoise eyes watching the furniture, "as long as you stay inside this room." He looked completely lucid, the blue flame that had been rising to the ceilings as he fought like a crazed maniac now dying ambers. Even his ears and horns were shorter.

Konekomaru gingerly put some distance between them, finally settling midway between the door and his warden.

The exwire didn't dare to breathe for a while, his back and legs tense. Minutes passed with nothing happening, before Okumura-sensei leaned his head back with a thud, exposing the long, white line of his neck. The movement made Konekomaru jump out of his skin, until he dared to peek at the taller male and realized his captor's eyes weren't open.

"Stay," Okumura-sensei said, as though sensing Konekomaru's thoughts. "There's only one exit, and I assure you, I can catch you before you're through."

_Precisely_, Konekomaru frowned in puzzlement. There was only one exit; there was nowhere for Okumura-sensei to run, either. Konekomaru believed that his teacher, the youngest man recorded to ever attain the exorcist certificate, wasn't stupid.

Konekomaru gulped and braved himself. Okumura-sensei was still there, inside the flaming blue figure, and the exwire had faith that his teacher wouldn't let the demon harm him. "It's a waiting game," he stated the truth bluntly. _What are you trying to achieve?_

The taller male shrugged and took off his broken glasses. "That's good enough," he replied, his voice absent.

Abruptly, Konekomaru realized that his teacher wasn't acting on logic, he was acting on impulses. And his whole objective was to…

_Sever the bond with his soul mate_.

Konekomaru shuddered. "W-why?" He hadn't met the other end of his string. He didn't know if he would even get to; some people spent their whole lives tracing, yet couldn't. But the hope that he might…that alone got him through the worse loneliness after the death of his parents.

Okumura-sensei didn't reply.

The silence made the voices in Konekomaru's head grew louder. A twin brother…may be that was too close...and Okumura-sensei was uncomfortable? Konekomaru couldn't imagine having Renzou or Bon as his soulmate. Or...was it because Okumura-kun was Satan's son? No matter that Okumura-sensei had grown up with him, as someone born human, having Satan's son as soulmate...it must be scary. Konekomaru couldn't put himself in Okumura-sensei's shoes, no matter how much he tried.

And until just now, hadn't Okumura-kun always been unaware of the existence of…

Something cold passed through Konekomaru.

_What's lonely is not only being orphaned._

"In Kyoto, during our run in with the Impure King…" Okumura-sensei suddenly began. Konekomaru perked up and paid him his full attention, despite his confusion with the non-sequitur. "My eyes burned with the blue flame when I almost died in Toudou's hands."

Konekomaru inhaled sharply. _So Okumura-sensei isn't human after all?_

"I thought of three possibilities, afterwards," the taller male went on, almost monotonously. "The first being Nii-san's powers rushing in through our connection when he was subconsciously aware that I was in peril."

"That's impossible!" Konekomaru blurted reflexively, and quickly shut up when Okumura-sensei glanced at him.

But Konekomaru's captor only huffed, seemingly in amusement. "The most common misconception is a bond only exists after consummation," he sounded like a teacher again, then. "Truth is, eye contact accompanied by a touch is enough. Of course, the powers of the bond after consummation are so much stronger that an unconsummated bond can be considered nonexistent," he recited.

"I see," Konekomaru hummed in understanding. He always learned something new from this person.

"I too, could sometimes sense when Nii-san gets into trouble," his expression looked nostalgic for a moment, before Okumura-sensei shook himself out of it. "Anyways, my other speculations are…that I am, indeed, not 100% human. Or Satan possessed parts of me to…" his face turned dark as he spoke, the emotion in those eyes chilling Konekomaru. "Save his investment," but Okumura-sensei ended detachedly, like he always did before the throes of wrath caught him.

"Invest…" Konekomaru didn't understand.

An empty smile spread on the taller male's face. "While I was under the Illuminati's custody, I overheard Lucifer," all life seemed to have left his eyes, then, "he said, as his half-human sons, Nii-san and I are the perfect vessels for Satan."

A flashback of the blue night, the night that took away his parents, entered Konekomaru's mind. Fear, empathy, anger, jumbled up together.

_It's so unfair, _his thoughts finally coalesced to.

The conclusion surprised the bald-headed teen. 'What is so unfair?'

"I'm no closer to knowing why, then or now," Okumura-sensei appeared to be closing his soliloquy. "If these are Nii-san's overflowing powers, once the rope is cut I will return to being human. If these are my own heritage or Satan's..." he trailed off, "in any case, having a consummated bond throw these powers between us in a loop is not a good idea."

'That,' Konekomaru realized.

(_In your life, what decisions have you made purely for yourself?_)

Okumura-sensei had always seemed aloof to Konekomaru ever since he set foot into the Exorcist Cram School. He was always with other teachers, leading missions, giving instructions and guidance. Even during the school festival or (not) Kamiki-san's birthday party, he had stood to the side.

An introvert himself, Konekomaru understood the need to energize himself through solitude, yet there were moments he goofed off with Bon and Renzou, kitty-talking with Kuro, and generally enjoyed being a teenager.

Yet, Konekomaru had never seen Okumura-sensei as one.

"Yukio-kun," the bald exwire called the other teen by his given name for the first time. _I'm sorry_, he apologized silently. "You're fifteen years old, you know."

"Huh?" the turquoise-eyed boy looked so surprised. "W-what are you-"

Konekomaru got up from his perch, and voluntarily approached the taller student. "You're free to skip classes, watch movies, swim at the beach during summer holidays," he listed as he grew closer, "fool around, go on dates," Konekomaru wrapped his arms around his _friend_, "fall in love."

Yukio froze in his hug, and struggled. "Miwa-san-"

"If you cut the rope because you don't _want_ to be bonded to Okumura-kun, that's fine," Konekomaru refused to let go. "Okumura-kun's loud, reckless, emotional…"

"Hey!" Yukio's indignant tone made Konekomaru chuckle.

The exwire cleared his throat. "In reverse," he interrupted Yukio's complaint, "If you want to, you should. Yukio-kun, you have to live _your_ life."

Silence dawned upon them. Konekomaru stayed in his position until his legs felt cramped and he sensed the figure in his arms shaking. When he looked down, he saw that Yukio was…laughing.

"…Thanks, Konekomaru."

Konekomaru sighed.

_The rest depends on you, Okumura-kun._

TBC

Review please!


	11. 29

29.

"Learn sharp-shooting from me?"

"Ah," Ryuuji nodded and bowed, clapping his hands above his head. "Please, young teacher!"

Okumura-sensei chuckled. "Of course I'll help you, Suguro-kun," the kind half-demon said. "And I'm not your teacher anymore," he reminded the graduated Meister.

"Thank you!" Ryuuji grinned at the other male. "You're young, and a teacher. I'm not wrong," he insisted.

The bespectacled exorcist shook his head at him.

"So, shall we hit the practice grounds?" Ryuuji rose to his feet.

"Wait," his sempai had stood up, too, but gestured at another direction. The direction of his apartment, Ryuuji realized. "Before one uses a weapon, the first thing we must do is…"

"To understand the weapon," Ryuuji continued the sentence, suddenly embarrassed by his hastiness. Perhaps Rin's influence on him was more far-reaching than Ryuuji'd thought.

Okumura-sensei nodded. "There's more space at home," he turned to the cramped desk he had in the staff room. "Let me pack quickly."

Soon enough, with the help of Mephisto's handy keys, they had reached the cozy humble abode the Principal had awarded the Okumura brothers after their high school graduation. "The love birds need a love nest," the quirky purple-haired demon prince had teased them as he presented them with the gift.

Ryuuji had visited the place several times. Okumura-sensei kept it neat and clean, but the smell of cooking that had seeped into the wood of the furniture of the kitchen, and tit bits Rin carelessly left around, along with the funny decorations Rin insisted on hanging on the walls, made the apartment look lived in. The monk's son had always felt comfortable here.

"Make yourself at home," the younger Okumura needlessly said, "I'll bring one of my semi-automatic here."

After Ryuuji was left alone in the living room, he plopped himself on the coach and picked up the book that was lying on the coffee table. Judging from the title ("101 New Anti-Demon Compounds Derived from Common Japanese Plants"), it was the young teacher's. Though it wasn't his interest, the athletic young man began to flip through the pages.

Shiemi would have wanted to borrow this, he thought absently.

"Sorry for the wait," Okumura-sensei didn't just return with his pistol; he also had a tray of teas on his hands.

They sat next to the windows, calm breeze blowing against Ryuuji's face pleasantly as he watched the young teacher disassemble his spare weapon and explained each part one by one. His mentor had him put back the pistol, first with the help of a manual and some guidance, and gradually with less and less information to refer to.

Before Ryuuji knew it, the sky outside had turned dark gold.

And his stomach rumbled.

Okumura-sensei only smiled when Ryuuji's face turned red. "I think there are some leftovers from the lunch side dishes Nii-san cooked…" He got up and wandered to the kitchen.

"Ah, thanks…"

As Ryuuji waited again, he spotted a familiar figure crossed the car park of the apartment building below, red katana bag bobbing as he walked.

Ryuuji was about to holler his friend's name, when the Kyoto-born realized Rin was not alone.

A girl was accompanying him.

Ryuuji recalled the curly-haired brunette as a sempai in True Cross Order's Tokyo branch, a Lower Second class, having longer experience, yet a knight of ordinary talents. She was cute, according to Takani-sensei.

More importantly…she was walking too close to Rin! And did she just…press closer?

"What are you watching?" Okumura-sensei peered over Ryuuji's shoulder, nearly causing his heart to jump out of his skin. A plate of inari sushi was already placed on the table. "Oh," he reacted expressionlessly.

"…she looks like she has a crush on Okumura-kun," Ryuuji could never hold his honest opinions to himself.

Ryuuji observed the young teacher closely as the latter fixed his glasses. "Nagai-san is just taking cooking lessons from Ani."

Ryuuji glared. "I know you're smart enough to know that's not the case, young 'cher."

Okumura-sensei chuckled at the man with piercings. Actually chuckled in _amusement_.

Ryuuji bristled. "How can you be so calm? He's carelessly flirting with her!" Ah, that reminded him; when Ryuuji first met him, Rin had always been showing off to girls…

"No need to be so indignant, Suguro-kun," Okumura-sensei ended with a wry twist of his lips. "Nii-san's originally straight, you know," he shrugged.

Ryuuji couldn't believe his ears. "He's always got the hots for you!" He replied incredulously. The number of times he had to stumble across Rin sticking his tongue in the young teacher's throat…just recalling it made the Kyoto-born want to bleach his brains.

"That's because of the bond," Okumura-sensei sounded way too nonchalant.

"Hah?"

"You see, some bondmates are married to other people as well-" he tried to explain.

"That's for platonic bonds," Ryuuji rarely defied his teachers, but this time he couldn't help it. "Your bond is romantic!"

"A bond will hone your instincts to be more sensitive to your partner's, but it doesn't _define_ your whole relationship and the needs of your partner," Okumura-sensei was getting more and more frustrated, Ryuuji could tell. "You think a bond will change the people involved, so they'll be completely different after consummation? It doesn't!"

But Ryuuji was stubborn too, and never backed down from an argument. "But the person at the other end of your string is supposed to be the most compatible-"

"Said who?" Okumura-sensei was _shouting_. Ryuuji was shocked. "What if you are in love with someone not your soulmate before suddenly finding 'your one'? Could you forget the person in your mind, just like that-"

Having realized that he had lost his temper, the young teacher gasped. He cleared his throat and looked down. "I'm sorry."

Ryuuji waited for the tension on Okumura-sensei's shoulder to settle, a little, before asking quietly. "Did it…"

"…No," the Upper Second class exorcist didn't sound dishonest. "I had my hands full with ensuring that the Vatican wouldn't execute Nii-san, at that time. Of course, there was my demonic powers awakening…"

_Then…?_ Ryuuji's thoughts whirled.

Suddenly, the Kyoto-born remembered a night in the woods, long, long ago.

_"Rin had changed lately, so I was a little worried," Ryuuji heard Shiemi telling the young teacher. "But I'm relieved it looks like he's enjoying himself today!" She had a gentle and joyous smile on her face._

_On the contrary, Okumura-sensei's expression was unreadable. "You've been observing Nii-san for a while, haven't you?"_

It was years too late, but Ryuuji finally understood.

"…Suguro-kun?"

"Ah, sorry," he returned his attention to the neglected sushi. "…I think I'm going home after all."

If what the young teacher thought was true…

_What a mess they were in._

TBC

Review please!


	12. 30-32

_I'm losing sight of this eerily familiar pain._  
><em>As I lose my way, I wander. To the left? Or to the right?<em>  
><em>Wishes mix with the buzzing in my ears,<em>  
><em>And my fall isn't slowing down.<em>

Wired Life, Meisa Kuroki

* * *

><p>30.<p>

For as long as Yukio could remember, his life had been spiraling out of control.

_Like it was a long, long fall_.

Having received _masyou _in his mother's womb, Yukio was literally born with one foot in Gehena, with unwanted clairvoyance skills. Along with a twin brother whose body hosted Satan's powers. And said brother being his soulmate.

Yukio never had any say.

If he were born to a normal Japanese couple, maybe he would still be striving to be a doctor. Or maybe he would be an engineer or an investment banker. His soulmate would be a gentle-hearted girl like Shiemi. Maybe he wouldn't get to meet his soulmate and ended up marrying a considerate woman in his thirties.

Maybe, maybe.

The reverse could also happen. In another world, perhaps he was never alive. Satan might have intended for just one half-human to be born as his vessel, and God interfered by splitting that soul to two (and that was why they were each other's half). Perhaps Rin was meant to feed off him, like a sand tiger shark embryo. After all, in 21% to 30% twin pregnancies, one of the fetuses vanished in the first 12 weeks.

(_Rin had let him live._)

As Yukio grew older, he stopped thinking of what ifs. The helplessness he'd felt as a child lessened considerably, his pistols and potions a comforting weight around his waist. Father's death was tragic, but it didn't bring the teen off kilter. He knew – _they _knew – that Father was preparing Yukio to take his place.

(_The only one surprised was Nii-san._

_Nii-san, who had no say either._)

'Ne, Tou-san,' Yukio thought as he peeked at the sky over Konekomaru's shoulder, a patch of blue visible from a chip in the wall near the ceiling. 'If we're both humans, what do you think Nii-san would dream to be? What kind of person would he wish as his soulmate?'

As Yukio closed his eyes, Toudou's face and Lucifer's voice haunted him.

_I was never not lost, am I?_

The fall continued.

* * *

><p>31.<p>

"Again?" Shura groaned at the boy drooping at a corner of the room, while the Vatican's best technicians were putting their best efforts to repair the surveillance system. "Yer situation is no different from an hour ago, y'know?"

That, at least, got a spark to ignite in Rin's eyes. The teen glared at the First-Upper Class knight. "How is it the same?" he bristled. "Yukio had clearly said-"

"So ya'll just let the _Bibiri-megane_ go?" Shura cut him off. "Y'no he's just scared-"

"He'll hate me!" Rin jumped to his feet and swung his arm out in a wide gesture, venting out his exasperation.

"Idiot…" Suguro stepped forward. For a second, he looked reluctant, but he let out his opinions anyway. "Either your bond gets cut or the young teacher resents you for going against his decision…You'll lose him both ways."

Rin flinched, and slumped back down.

Someone dropped to their knees in front of him, a gentle hand touching his shoulder. Rin looked up to find the gentle, kind Shiemi, smiling soothingly at him. "Think of it this way, Rin…because you may lose him either way, you're free to choose whatever you feel is best for you and for Yuki-chan."

Rin blinked.

He…never saw it that way.

(Yet, if he didn't understand why Yukio rejected him in the first place, how was he-)

"We have a live feed!" Someone behind the monitors exclaimed.

Rin crossed the room like he'd flown, crowing the space with the Paladin and other arch knights. His heart rose to his throat when he saw Yukio lying on the floor as Konekomaru paced around, seeming jittery and impatient.

"The target looks exhausted," Arthur declared triumphantly. "Be prepared to retrieve the hostage!"

"Wait!" Rin stopped the long-haired blonde man. "Let me go in there!"

"You've failed before!" The stronger exorcist rebuffed him. "We're not trying your crazy method anymore-"

"THAT'S MY SOULMATE THERE!" Rin shouted.

The whole room fell silent.

A bold, strong gaze challenged Arthur. "If you're in the same position," this boy, this half-baked exwire, dared stand in his way, "would you stay out?"

Arthur stared back, testing his expression, his determination, before he eventually sighed. "One last chance."

Rin tightened his grip around Kurikara.

_No room for doubt._

* * *

><p>32. <strong>[This scene contains smut. You have been warned.]<strong>

"Happy anniversary!" Rin welcomed his bondmate cheerfully at the door, donning a blue apron. A delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen.

Yukio smiled back at him. "Happy anniversary, Nii-san." He leaned down to meet his lips when Rin tilted his head toward the taller male. "Here," Yukio passed him a wrapped box.

Rin tore into it enthusiastically. "Wah!" he stared at the combat boots in awe, and immediately tried them on. "They're so cool! And sturdy!" he commented as he jumped on the spot, testing the product. Yukio always had a knack of knowing what would be useful for Rin. "Thanks, Yukio!" he grinned.

"A-ah," Yukio's eyes slid to the side, his cheeks tinged pink. Typical of his younger brother, to receive his gratitude awkwardly. Well, that in itself was adorable, Rin thought as warmth bubbled in his chest.

The evening went on without a glitch. Kuro, Ukobach and Yukio ate the meals Rin had prepared happily. They proceeded to the living room without fanfare, either.

Rin watched the pink shell of his brother's slightly sharp-tipped ear in anticipation and licked his lips as he pressed the heel of the long, arced foot in his lap. The sharp breath Yukio took excited him. "Yukio," he leaned closer to his bondmate, preparing to seduce him with all his might. "Shall we…?"

The kiss Rin received surprised him. Yukio was normally reserved with his sexual desires, especially out of the bedroom. Hell, public displays of affection embarrassed him to the point of discomfort.

Yet, tonight his tongue invited Rin's in as he climbed over the slenderer man's lap on the coach, his cool, broad hands slipping under Rin's shirt. The touch on his skin made Rin shudder and overcome with desperation to get. Naked. Now. "Tch!" he stopped fussing over the buttons after he got the black overcoat off his bondmate and yanked Yukio's shirt off, sending those tiny circular plastics flying all over the room.

Rin waited for the taller man's scolding, or at least a cluck of his tongue, but none was forthcoming. In fact, Yukio looked distracted, the smooth skin of his torso flushed redder than usual.

"Yukio?" Rin hummed against his partner's collarbone, his lips starting his favourite game of 'connecting the moles', licking and biting away. "What's wrong-" he mumbled…

And froze as he shoved one hand in Yukio's trousers.

_Is that…lace?_

Rin had never unzipped and yanked down anyone's trousers as fast as this, even when he'd been dying for a piss for ten minutes.

And the sight that greeted him made his mouth water.

"Y-your other p-pre-present," Yukio sounded unbelievably nervous.

Rin couldn't stop gaping as he wrenched his eyes away from his lover's groin to his face. "…" no sound exited Rin's mouth. He was rendered speechless.

Yukio mistook the silence and quickly pulled up his trousers again. "Sorry for the weirdness," he rushed, his cheeks red as a tomato.

_No! Nonono_- "No!" Rin finally managed and pulled the offending trousers back down so hard it was a wonder the fabric hadn't tore apart. "I, I-" he stared, still amazed, before giving up on words altogether.

"Nnii-" Yukio's voice stuttered to a halt under Rin's ministrations. The elder brother sensed his lover taking a deep breath, before… "Anata [1]."

Rin's eyes widened._That's...the first time he's called me that._

His heart jumped.

Then nobody, absolutely nobody, could stop him from ravishing what's his.

TBC

* * *

><p>Review please!<p>

Scene 32 has been cleaned up. Please go to AO3 chapter 11 scene 27 for the longer, raunchier version. Same username, with underscores instead of spaces. But please don't go on reading the AO3 beyond chapter 11 scene 27. I have different plans for this story.

1. 'Anata' means 'dear' or 'darling', an endearment a wife calls her husband with.  
>Yukio is 'OOC' here. Well, he's trying to do things he's uncomfortable with to make Rin happy.<br>Yukio said a total of 189 'Nii-san' in 25 episodes and 1 movie. 189 times. This just shows that 'Nii-san' has been such an ingrained part of Yukio's mind when he sees Rin. A romantic relationship involves more than brotherhood + sex, right? But Yukio has been having trouble with understanding that 'what else' to the equation.


	13. 33-34

33.

Yukio might be so tired his eyelids were glued shut, but he could feel it.

His thread, the line that had kept him tethered to another person on earth, causing his eyes to stare in his direction no matter where the other was, attuned to his dangers and drew him like a moth to fire, stretching thin.

Soon, those instincts Yukio had given up questioning years ago would be parted from him.

_Good riddance…_

(…was what he'd like to say.)

"I won't let it be," someone shouted, before the door was blown inward.

Yukio pried his eyes open and blindly reached for his one-time hostage, his new friend, and succeeded in capturing his wrist in an iron grip.

"Not again!" One of the exorcists who'd broken through Yukio's self-imposed prison with their spells exclaimed in alarm. "Miwa-kun!"

"I won't let you!" a figure flew past the human barrier that was the Middle class exorcists lined shoulder to shoulder, blue flame rising from his slender frame. The Japanese katana he wielded was raised high above his head, before it was swung in a wide arch.

"Agh!" Yukio grunted when the slash hit his hand, causing him to let go of Konekomaru. The bald Aria-in-training, now safely tucked under Suguro-kun's arm, was completely unhurt. Yukio had no fingers missing, either. His skin was just blue purple, like it was smacked by a wooden rod, not the Demon-Killing sword Kurikara.

So, this was the progress Nii-san had managed. He had this much control over his flame, over his strengths.

And his idiot brother was going to throw this progress down the drain.

"Stupid!" he yelled, letting out his frustration, and charged at his opponent with his deformed hands, his claws. Just a little more time. A little more-

"Yer the stupid one!" Nii-san struck him down with the hilt of his sword, aimed straight at his kidney. Yukio choked toward the dirty tiles on the floor as his knees gave way.

"Listen!" his collars were seized by Nii-san's hand. "Shiemi, Shura and Suguro that damn guy-" [1] Yukio didn't get why they were suddenly brought up as his brother growled against his face. "'Decide what I think would make you happy,' they said!" The older male prattled on while Yukio tried to gather his strength.

"LISTEN!" Rin's eyes were staring right into his, his voice surrounding Yukio. Those dark blue gaze…Yukio couldn't get away from the anger, from the intense emotions flitting through them. "How can I know what's best for you when I don't understand why you're rejecting me! It hurts! But I don't care!" He reeled the arm that was holding Kurikara, flinging the weapon to another end of the room. With his freed hand, he held Yukio's face, curving around his cheek firmly.

"My soulmate is only you!" his declaration was final.

Yukio raised an arm, intending to struggle, his eyes wide as he saw his brother's face descending on him on a slow motion, unable to tear away. Like watching a train wreck.

Then their lips touched.

(And Yukio lost control of himself.

He fell. Deeper. Into the unknown.)

* * *

><p>34. <strong>[Another warning: INCEST SMUT ahead]<strong>

"Wait!" someone shouted from behind him, "the bonding spells aren't set up yet!"

_Like we have the time to wait!_ Rin snarled at them in his head, and decided to just go for it.

In the end, he thought of what he wanted, first and foremost.

The instance their lips met, well, Rin wasn't exaggerating when he described it as 'magical'.

The surge that resulted from the contact blew everyone backward with the strength of a typhoon, the spiky symbol that had been threatening to cut their connection shattering into pieces.

"Even without the spells?" someone gasped.

But Rin couldn't hear it clearly. Like a tap slowly turning open, flashes of Yukio's thoughts, emotions and powers flowed into Rin. And along with that, fiery desires.

The hand cupped around Yukio's face slid lower and lower, past his collarbone, to the skin over his quickly beating heart. His nails, which had sharpened to claws, tore through fabrics with abandon, the urge to have their naked skin pressed together overwhelming his senses. Nothing else mattered.

"Nii-san!" Yukio wasn't fighting anymore. In fact, he'd pressed against Rin's lips more insistently. "N-nii-san!" he repeated incoherently, his eyes scrunched shut before he offered his white neck to Rin and wrapped his long, lean legs around the slenderer male.

Rin latched on the dip below his brother's Adam's apple, sucking hard. As Yukio jerked and wounded his arms tightly around Rin's shoulders, Rin's mind was filled by just one word: _mine._

"Yes, yes," Rin hissed in pleasure as he rocked against Yukio, the friction making his mind more and more muddled. His hands roamed Yukio's back like they had a mind of their own, sliding through soft skin that gave way to a thicker, pelt-like structure.

"Nggghh!" Yukio thrashed his head when Rin curled his fingers around the base of the younger demon's tail, his thumb rubbing circles on the underside. "Ah-" Yukio's gasp was so high-pitched it disappeared before his breath ran out. The soft keen made Rin shudder.

"M-mm-" the end of Yukio's tail wrapped around Rin's arm, pulling him closer. "H-hurry," he demanded, his skin pink all over.

It felt like all Rin's blood had migrated south. In a smooth move, he'd flipped his brother to his hands and knees.

"Hhhh," Yukio pushed and pushed against Rin more persistently as Rin prepared him. "More!" his breaths were becoming shorter and shorter.

"Even now, you're so bossy," the comment fell unbidden from his lips. Only after the words were released to the air, Rin realized he was relieved. As surreal as this felt…something of Yukio stayed true to himself.

"Yesss," Yukio whimpered and threw his head back, turning his face blindly toward the warmth behind him. Rin leaned down to meet his lips.

_There, _he smirked to himself, and continued thrusting mercilessly.

Rin thanked the Gods he wasn't a virgin. If that older woman hadn't prepositioned him when he was still skipping school almost every day, Rin wouldn't have known what to do to make his intended feel good.

Yukio barely made any sound when he came, just a great rush of air from his lungs.

For a moment, Rin saw the red string tied around his little finger shining bright red, looped around him and Yukio and pulling them together as it shrink in length.

The tap that had allowed sensations and energy to flow between them was suddenly broken, like it was turned too hard. A surge of powers flooded Rin, fanning the blue flames till they rose higher and higher from his body, his ears, claws, horns and fangs growing with the sparks. It was so hot his skin felt like they would boil and blister.

He screamed in pain.

TBC

Reply please!

* * *

><p>Again, scene 34 is abridged to remove all the blatant descriptions. Refer to AO3 chapter 13 scene 29 for the full version.<p>

1. As I advance in my Japanese, I admit that when I write fanfictions of Japanese fandom, I often thought of the dialogues in Japanese, then the descriptions in English. It's so bizarre. As a result, some dialogues here make better sense in Japanese. E.g. 'Suguro no yatsu', 'Ore no kokoro no hanbun wa omae shikanai!'

* * *

><p>Reply to Guest: I don't feel down from constructive criticisms on my stories. What I do feel down from is a lack of reaction from readers. The opposite of love isn't hate; it's indifference.<p>

Please don't hesitate to ask anything you don't get after reading the scene. Please DON'T assume they will be explained in a future chapter somewhere. Sometimes things just slipped my mind. Sometimes, I am not aware of how my phrases and choice of words, meant to subtly hint something, were not understood by non-English-natives. Sometimes, I don't intend to explain and leave the scene to readers' interpretation. My whole intention of writing this story was to let readers question their understanding of love. True, I won't completely change my style and I have to balance the need of readers who like to be challenged by some mystery as well, but I promise to make modifications.

You know, if we're talking about content, the scenes on AO3 and FFnet are pretty much the same. It's not that I cut the scenes, I just re-arranged them. A change in sequence can greatly change the feel of the story. In AO3, the scenes were more chronological (hence easier to understand), while in FFnet, the timeline is more fragmented (jumping between present, future, past, memories, reflections). In any case, chapter 13 is a direct continuation of 12, and in FFnet I've decided to cut away mpreg and Shiemi's trouble with having kids. That would make the version in FFnet easier to read, as well (less timelines and characters POV to juggle).

I end by saying thank you so much for the review, and please, please DON'T hesitate to ask. You're right, in AO3, the questions previous reviewers asked had sort of become an FAQ/commentary to the story, and is as important a reading experience as reading the fanfiction.


	14. 35-36

35.

Shiemi blinked at the red thread glimmering before them, amazed that she, an unrelated party, could see it even for just a while. As far as she knew, Strings of Fate are meant to be visible only to the people sharing them…and she'd never seen consummation take place to disprove that belief. In the first place, consummations were highly private affairs, not a scene to be viewed by the dozens of exorcists standing around the room and broadcasted to the people watching the surveillance camera feeds.

"It took," she whispered in awe. "The bond is cemented!" She turned to her fellow exwires in joy.

"I have no doubt it would take," Johann Faust V crossed his arms and shrugged. His eyes were gleaming in amusement. "The challenge comes after."

Just after the tall demon said that, Rin's bloodcurdling scream tore through the air.

Everyone watched in alarm as the bodies of Satan's sons were engulfed in blue flames, their demonic features of pointy ears and long claws becoming more and more prominent. A wild look even entered the elder's eyes.

"Everyone, in place!" Paladin Arthur commanded and charged in, leading his troops of top-notch dragoons and knights. "Fire!"

"Noo!" Shiemi yelled and tried to run forward, but was stopped by Suguro-kun's steely hold on her arm.

None of the bullets reached the weaponless Rin, however. In a flash of light, leathery wings sprouted from Yuki-chan's shoulder blades, tearing his skin and spraying blood as they spread out and shielded his brother.

"Oh!" the Principal's expression was creepily ecstatic, "what an interesting development!"

"Yukio!" Rin shouted as the onslaught of bullets carved holes into the wings. He turned to their attackers and growled at them, sharp canines bared. "You bastards! How dare you-" his flames flew at the exorcists in arrow-like shapes.

"Hey, ye stop now!" Kirigakure-sensei jumped into the fray and smacked Rin on the head with the hilt of her sword. His loss of concentration dispersed the blue flames. "Don't fan the fire!"

"Shut up!" the teen only bristled at her, one palm still hovering above Yuki-chan's wounds.

"Think of _Bibiri_ too, dumbass!" The well-endowed teacher firmly placed herself between the Paladin and the two cornered half-demons. "Don't let his powers overwhelm you! Ye havta calm down for him!"

"Ye havta be his Kurikara!"

Kirigakure-sensei's words seemed to get to Rin, because his distorted irises turned to those of human eyes again, filled with recognition and rational thoughts. The flames simmered down to ambers dancing on his naked skin. Occasionally, the flames wavered, threatening to rise again, but Rin took deep, calculated breaths to quell them.

"Yes, that's it…" Kirigakure-sensei praised Rin, her voice unexpectedly gentle.

Yuki-chan was still bent over the floor, his back shaking. "Rrhh," a throaty sound left him, his body still blazing with the blue flames.

"Yukio," Rin carded his hand through the younger teen's hair, past the horn-like fireballs on his temple. "Yukio, listen to me. Focus on my voice."

"Rrhhnnnii-san…" Yuki-chan looked up at Rin, his right eye still darting erratically, while his left eye appeared more lucid.

"Push your energy to me…that's it," Rin spoke very, very soothingly. "I can take it. I can control it."

"Nii-" Yuki-chan scrunched his eyes shut.

He was following Rin's instruction, Shiemi could tell, as the strength of his blue flames shifted to Rin, who barely flinched. He took them like a sponge, and absorbed them into his body with each deep breath, the hand not touching Yuki-chan clenched till his knuckles were white.

"That's it," Rin's voice didn't waver as he pulled Yuki-chan closer to his lap.

Yuki-chan rested his face on Rin's thigh, and didn't budge when his wings folded close to his back. When the flames finally died on his pale skin, Shiemi suddenly realized Yuki-chan had dozed off.

"Haah!" Rin let himself fall to his back as he sighed, loud and long. "God, that felt like ages…" he sounded very relieved.

The Principal casually sauntered toward them. "A congratulation is in order, then," the white-robed demon grinned at two of his students. "To the newly-bonded couple!" He dropped a pair of small rings to the Okumura brothers. [1]

"May your relationship be strong forever!"

* * *

><p>36.<p>

Ryuuji-kun had been staring at her.

'Do I have something on my hair?' Shiemi felt so self-conscious. 'Have I been putting on weight?' If that was the case, she was going to blame Rin for bringing packed lunches to True Cross Hospital's Anti-Demon Pharmacology Emergency Room for Yuki-chan and inevitably for her as well since, as Yuki-chan's mentee, the Doctors worked similar shifts.

"…Moriyama-san," the tall young man had always had an athletic body since they were freshmen. Now that he'd lost the blonde cockscomb, and his shoulders had grown broader and more muscular as he trained with his bazooka, Ryuuji-kun had become so handsome.

"How many times must I say this," Shiemi pouted and crossed her arms, "call me by my given name, Ryuuji-kun."

Ryuuji-kun gave her a small smile. "Shiemi-san," he yielded. Then he hesitated.

'Eh, eh?' Shiemi's heat beat like it was going to jump out of her chest. Now that all of them had graduated from the cram school and high school, and they had met each other's families, Shiemi kept thinking…

If Ryuuji-kun was going to pop the question.

Ryuuji-kun was always determined, the upside of his one-track mind. Before long, he managed to let the words out. "About…our bond."

Shiemi's face burned bright red. 'Now? Eh? Am I ready?' the urge to cover her cheeks with her hands was so great. In fact, she would have done so if she wasn't elbow deep in rich soil.

The monk's son continued, "I was thinking…" his eyes slid away. He couldn't face her, too, but Shiemi watched him force himself to, his jaws tight. "Shiemi-san!"

"Shall we have a platonic bond?"

_Huh?_

_HUH?_

The end of the sentence wasn't what she'd expected at all.

"Not all soulmates are better off in romantic bonds. Kamiki-san and Paku-san are in a platonic bond, and they're happy," Ryuuji-kun seemed to ramble, his words coming more and more quickly in her silence.

For a moment, Shiemi was overcame with shock.

"Ryuuji-kun, do you have a girlfriend?"

The Kyoto-born's eyes widened.

Shiemi gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth, the dirt be damned. Oh, she wanted to die. She wanted a hole to swallow her and hide her forever. How could she have said that? No matter how dazed she was, she shouldn't have blurted the first thing that came to her mind! How could she have returned to the thirteen-year-old girl who gallingly called the genius Okumura Yukio 'Yuki-chan'?

"No!" Ryuuji's loud and firm answer stopped the never-ending stream of questions in her head. "That's not why I suggested that!" He gripped her wrist and held it away from her face with one hand, the other reaching for the tissue box at the end of the table.

"…Then why?" Shiemi blinked. She was not the Yamato Nadeshiko [2] Shima said she was, long ago. She would never hide her opinions, and would charge headfirst into danger to protect the people she found dear.

This time Ryuuji-kun threw his gaze, and didn't attempt to meet her eyes again. "Shiemi-san, _sa_…" He released her. "Before we met…have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"Huh?" Shiemi's cheeks flushed red again. "I-I never-" She waved her hands in embarrassment. _Why suddenly…_

"Me neither." Thankfully, his remark saved her from further mortification.

Shiemi tilted her head and frowned. 'Then what's the big deal…?'

"Shiemi-san, please tell me." This was the first time Shiemi saw this boy so unsure. "What do you feel about Okumura-kun?"

Shiemi gasped.

She felt hurt. She rose to her feet and shouted indignantly. "How can you suggest that-" she was so angry she couldn't continue. Her voice was so high-pitched her throat hurt. She gulped, her eyes still glaring at Ryuuji-kun in disbelief.

Ryuuji-kun rose to his feet too, his tall frame towering over her petite one. "I'm not suggesting anything! I know you and Okumura-kun are just good friends!"

"Rin and Yuki-chan are together!" She wasn't afraid of him. It never occurred to her to be.

(She trusted him, on an instinctual level.)

"I know!" Ryuuji-kun raised an arm in frustration, but he never laid a hand on her. His thick strong fingers were pulling his hair instead. "Forget that they are, for the moment! You have feelings for Okumura-kun, right?"

Shiemi couldn't believe what her soulmate was accusing her. Her heart was aching so bad she wanted to cry. This must be the first time they fought. "I don't! How could you-"

"You have always been watching him!" Ryuuji-kun cut in. "Now, and in the past! The young teacher agreed!"

Shiemi took a step back. "Yuki-chan…did?"

Ryuuji-kun sighed. "Yes," the volume of his voice dropped a decibel. "What he said…made me think. What is love? Could one be in love with someone not his soulmate?"

"…Ryuuji-kun," Shiemi didn't know what else to say. She was distressed…but so was he.

"Shiemi-san, I stopped considering other people the moment I met you," the Aria-Dragoon met her eyes again for the first time since he asked her about Rin. "And I'm sure you did, too." His voice was kind.

Hope filled her chest. "Then…" she begun to smile at him.

His face looked so, so sad. "I wonder if disregarding our hearts is the right thing to do."

"…Ryuuji-kun," Shiemi's sight blurred. "I…I only care deeply about Rin."

"But thoughts of him fill your head, don't they?" Ryuuji-kun didn't sound angry at all. In fact, he sounded understanding. "Thoughts of the young teacher, too."

Shiemi could not deny them.

"Shiemi-san…" Ryuuji-kun's touch on her wet cheek both assured her and caused the tears to flow down faster. "I remember, when we were younger. Before we knew each other much. Before Okumura-kun and the young teacher were bonded. You always seemed flustered when you talked to the young teacher. And very, very happy when you were watching Okumura-kun." His voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "You still do."

"Ryuuji-kun," Shiemi found back her strength to move, and clutched at his hand with all her might. "I care about you, too. So, _so_ much," she sobbed.

He enveloped her in his arms, and let her cry on his shoulder. "But do thoughts of me fill your waking hours? Does your heart beat quickly for me?" He pressed his hand against her left chest, as though confirming his theory.

Shiemi could not lie to him.

"…So that's our answer," [3] Ryuuji-kun sounded haggard. "I'm sorry I made you cry." Ever the gentleman.

_No_, Shiemi's fingers dug into his shirt. _I'm sorry for being lost._

TBC

Review please!

* * *

><p>1. Why does Mefi have a pair of bonding rings in his pocket? Because he's a hoarder, he has so much junk in his place and he can manipulate space. Of course he owns a pair of rings he wants to dispose anyways.<p>

2. Yamato Nadeshiko is "the personification of an idealized Japanese woman" or "the epitome of pure, feminine beauty", often used referring to a girl or shy young woman. After watching Kamiya Hiroshi and Fukuyama Jun mention their favourite Ao no Exorcist character is Shiemi, because she is pretty in kimono and cute, I realized that she could be considered as a Yamato Nadeshiko.

3. The original Japanese dialogue in my head was 'Kotae ni naru'n da.' No pronoun needed at all. The ambiguity (is it 'our answer', 'your answer' or 'the answer'?) is acceptable in Japanese, which is a context heavy language. But English doesn't allow it! So annoying.


	15. 37

37.

Yukio heard Nii-san being dragged away from his bedside for the first time in the couple of days he'd been swimming on the edge between wakefulness and oblivion. _Finally_, he sighed as he continued playacting to be unconscious.

He knew it was cowardly, but…

…he wanted to take it easy, for a while.

_Have his head blank out._

"It is unlike you to escape in response to crises, Okumura-sensei," a familiar voice spoke to him. "Or…shall I call you Yukio-kun, now?"

The dragoon opened his eyes to see the tall figure of the Principal and the True Cross Order's Japanese Branch Head looming over him.

"Good morning," those narrow green eyes twinkled at him, full of mirth.

"…Sir Pheles," Yukio merely replied politely, as always.

"Don't be so formal, Yukio-kun!" the Principal plopped himself to a fancy chair he must have conjured some time ago. "If you wish," he leaned forward, his grin distorted, "you can call me Aniue." [1]

Yukio's eyes widened. He scrambled to face the tall demon fully, and was assaulted by a stab of _pain_ as his back pressed against the mattress. He returned to his side, and sensed something move behind him, tangling the blankets. He could feel the texture of the woolen fabric rubbing against the leathery extensions of his shoulder blades, and they _felt _stifled.

"Oh, be careful! You'll squeeze them against the mattress," Sir Pheles clucked his tongue patronizingly. "You still haven't retracted your wings under your skin!"

Yukio took a sharp breath.

Calling them 'wings'...made his jumbled memories of heat and skin more real.

Also...

_That's possible?_

"Of course it is!" the Head Branch remarked. Yukio must have looked alarmed, because the tall demon chuckled. "Your thoughts are clearly written on your face, Yukio-kun."

Yukio blushed, and threw his gaze to the floor, avoiding Sir Pheles' amused stare.

They fell into silence for a while, since the tall demon didn't say anything anymore. Eventually, Yukio's resolve broke.

"You're really Samael, the King of Time."

Sir Pheles grinned like the cat that got the cream. "So you've suspected something."

Yukio couldn't help but send his superior an offended look. "The keys, the wards around the Academy…you seriously think any ordinary exorcist wouldn't have guessed that you are at least an upper-class kin of Samael?"

The Principal shook his head. "What an unlovely reaction," [2] he clucked his tongue, "Rin-kun…my now second youngest brother was at least amusing."

Yukio clenched his fist around his blanket, the sharp claws catching on the fabric.

"You've only just considered me your younger brother, haven't you, Sir Pheles?"

"Hmm?" the tall demon, as usual, pretended to not understand.

Yukio didn't have the patience to deal with this now. "Am I always meant to be…" He deflated quickly, not able to finish the question.

Sir Pheles sighed. "To say that you were born completely human…would not be the truth," he yielded, and Yukio thanked the Gods this infuriatingly vague demon had the mercy to answer him.

Yukio raised his head to pay attention to the King of Time.

"Rin-kun's biology and yours have always been similar," Sir Pheles folded his legs and placed his chin on his hand. "Had you not been a weak foetus, both of you might have been born with Father's powers. Or you could easily be Rin-kun, while his body rejected the powers. Both of you have thick demon's blood."

"Then…" _It was because my body had strengthened and was ready to accept the powers?_

"Anyways, turning into a demon isn't so out of the world," Sir Pheles shrugged bemusedly. "After all, Lucifer has successfully converted his human followers to demon eaters, right?"

"But…demon-eating is a form of possession. Demons, especially upper-class demons members of the Illuminati have been forcing to merge with, could leave their hosts. I've seen this happen to Kamiki-san," Yukio argued, "without the demons, the eaters will be human again."

Sir Pheles laughed to himself. So hard he bent over his stomach.

Yukio lifted himself with his elbow, but crashed back down. He felt _so_ weak. "What is so funny?" he twitched in irritation

"You are so…simple, Yukio-kun," the tall demon wiped his tears, "or…shall I say, pure?" [3]

"Stop talking in riddles!" Yukio snarled. "I'm asking if my demon heart did not die when I was a foetus, but grew in Gehenna and lay in wait until I was ready to house it!"

(_Has his control over his temper diminished greatly?_)

Sir Pheles remained calm at the storm's doorstep. "And I'm telling you, you got it wrong. Genetic potential isn't the only factor." Before Yukio could yell at him again, Sir Pheles straightened himself. "Hmm…you are a man of science, aren't you? Let's think of demons as magnetism, and humans as magnetic materials. Humans with demonic heritage are iron and steel, so to speak, but there are other metals that can turn to 'permanent magnets', right?" His amber green eyes gleamed. "What's important is…a heart that a demon could make his own." [4]

_My youngest brothers are really predictable,_ Samael thought as he watched the pale-skinned teenager tremble, empty blue eyes staring at nothing.

"What a pity," the King of Time shook his head, "you could have avoided becoming a permanent magnet if you stay clear of magnetic fields." He provoked.

Those dull eyes turned sharp instantly. "…Sir Pheles," despite how much his body must be aching, how much agony Samael could only imagine the half-human was in, Yukio-kun dragged himself up until he was sitting upright, their eyes on the same level. "I heard from Tou-san that you were the one who sealed Nii-san's powers in Kurikara."

"Yes, I did," Samael answered nonchalantly as he twirled his umbrella with a finger. He was inwardly disappointed. _Are you going to run again? _"It'll feel like losing a limb, though."

Yukio-kun watched him. Like, really scrutinized him. Samael was surprised. This was the first time the teenager openly did so. He had always been bowing respectfully, before.

"…In another world," the dragoon began, his conviction stronger with each word, "in a world where our String of Fate snapped instead…I would have been more of use to you as your eyes amidst the Illuminati, Sir Pheles."

_Oops_.

Samael bared his teeth at his half-brother unapologetically. So what if one of his plans were found out. This had been happening regularly these days.

On the other hand, those _brains_.

"You'll understand…I have to keep the _better_ hand," ah, Samael really enjoyed taunting the tense teenager, who insisted on carrying the whole world on that thin back. "You are not as good a liar as you think, Yukio-kun."

Frustration entered those teal eyes, a spark, before it was quickly quelled.

The boy remained the same, Samael noted, as a human and a demon.

Pure white. As snow.

TBC

Um...review please? Please let me know what images/conclusions/ideas did you arrive to after reading the conversation between Samael and Yukio?

* * *

><p>Notes:<p>

1. Aniue: big brother. Ho, Yukio, not only have you changed in species, you obtained three new even more eccentric older brothers too! Haha poor guy.

2. Again, I first thought of the dialogue in Japanese: "kawaikunai", literally meaning 'you're not being cute'. This is a jab.

3. 単純 'tan jun': simple.  
>純粋 'jun sui': genuine, pure, unmixed.<br>These two share the same kanji 'jun', which means innocent. Mephisto was implying that Yukio was naive.

4. This conversation was different from AO3, revised after discussions with a _highly skilled_ writer who is more knowledgeable in demonology, and reading the newest AnE manga chapters. Why do certain humans have higher assimilation potential with demons? Bloodlines must be one reason. The Impure King arc made it clear bloodlines are important to demons (Kakura's pact with Tatsuma's lineage, Ucchusma's with the ten families). BUT why did Izumo's compatibility with the Ninetails drop? Her biology doesn't change. How could the Ninetails have left Tamamo for Izumo and vice versa? Could a demon eater return to being human? This chapter is my interpretation of the answers to these questions.

* * *

><p>Reply to Azu: thanks very much for the reviews. Ah, thanks for the good words as well; I don't feel that I'm at that level yet. Don't hesitate to make requests. To say that I purposely wrote this scene in Yukio's POV for you is a lie though haha, I already planned this scene in Yukio's POV. So I guess your line of thought is aligned to mine :). Hope you enjoyed this update and hoping to hear more from you if it's possible.<p> 


	16. 38

A/N: No more technical explanations in this chapter, no worries.

* * *

><p>"<em>I lie and get lied to," you laugh<em>  
><em>But you can't do that to some people, and silly old me is one of them<em>  
><em>If you can't move forward and fall clumsily<em>  
><em>You don't have anything to help you back up, so you'll die<em>  
><em>Choking back the urge to kill you, I want to say this to you in your last moments: <em>  
><em>"Don't make a fool of me and treat me like a machine."<em>

"Keikoku", sung by Shiina Ringo

* * *

><p>38.<p>

Yukio was avoiding him.

Rin knew the four-eyes was only pretending to sleep. There was a buzzing in his head that seemed to be absent when Yukio was truly under, like the taller teen's thoughts and emotions were only separated from Rin's mind by a thin membrane.

(Rin didn't press. If Yukio wanted some time, he would give it.)

Rin returned from his involuntary extended lunch trip to see Mephisto hand Yukio a small bottle tied to a string to could be looped around one's neck. The four-eye's wings and tail were out of sight.

Come to think of it, the energy that had been thrumming under his skin, causing him to be restless and want to jump and punch the air just to get rid of that excess, seemed to have dissipated.

_He's taken care of it!?_ Rin sighed at his unbelievable brother. Always trying to solve things himself.

"We'll proceed with the medical examinations, next," Rin caught the tail end of the Principal's conversation. "They're still deciding on who should be your handler."

"Wait, what?" Rin interrupted. Loudly. "A handler? He doesn't need one!"

"Of course, he does," the clown really loved his dramatic gestures. "The Vatican wouldn't leave Satan's sons alone. You had Shura and Yukio-kun watch over you, and now that Yukio-kun has turned this way, Shura can't possibly mind both of you herself."

Rin gritted his teeth. "Yukio doesn't need any minding!" he repeated. They were so blind. Yukio would never-

Mephisto laughed at him. Derisively. "You're always such a good laugh," he patted Rin on the head.

Rin snarled. He wasn't a dog!

"Shall we?" the tall demon rose to his feet and asked Yukio, who slipped bottle around his neck, tucked it under the yukata of his hospital gown, and followed the Principal.

"Ah, wait!" Rin ran after them. They hadn't talked at all!

And after the handler joined them, they would have even less time to talk!

"Nii-san," Yukio turned and faced him for the first time since...since Rin forced the consummation upon him. The younger teen grasped Rin's extended hand. The cold of metal around his little finger jolted Rin. '_He's wearing the ring,'_ he thought in wonder, surprised by just how happy that made him feel.

And Yukio's expression…was surprisingly free of any anger or resentment. He didn't look closed off, either. "I'm fine," his smile toward Rin was just as it was, before.

(_Like Rin hadn't just raped him._)

"Yukio-kun!" Mephisto hollered from the corridors.

"Coming!" Rin was left behind.

That was only one such instance. There were many more dismissals to come.

The medical examinations went on for ages, new tests popping up one after another.

There were also these…secret meetings held between Yukio and the Grigori.

(_Are they threatening him?_)

Rin was fed up with waiting.

"I'm so sorry-" the exorcist guarding the meeting room tried to stop him.

"What happens to my bond partner concerns me!" Rin didn't need to unsheathe Kurikara to be flaming.

They entered a minor scuffle, before he managed to kick the door open.

The three people inside turned to look at him. One was Yukio, of course. Another was a hooded member of the Grigori. The last was…

Something cold passed the back of Rin's neck.

_A woman in Illuminati's uniform!_

She glared at the guard. "Close the door!" she barked.

Rin shoved one foot in before the reinforced steel furniture could be slammed to his face. "I'm listening in!" he insisted.

The woman pursed her lips.

Before Rin knew it, an invisible force had pulled him in, causing him to fly on the air until he landed painfully on the floor by the table.

"Nii-san!" Yukio looked alarmed, like he didn't want Rin to be here. _That's nothing new._

"The problem isn't that I'm unwilling to be your handler. In my opinion, the Captain won't let you in his inner circle," the woman must be picking up the thread from before Rin's interruption, ignoring the exwire completely. "He would just keep you prisoner."

It took Yukio a while before he could wrench his horrified expression off Rin to face the woman.

"I'm confident I can prove myself more useful to him than to be behind bars," Yukio argued, "I'm sure my latest developments interest him."

"Indeed," the woman finally acknowledged Rin's presence, her eyes sliding over him in disdain through the lenses of her spectacles. "What a very _public_ bonding," she sneered. "Everyone knew right after it happened."

Yukio's face turned red instantaneously.

Rin stood up and immediately placed himself in front of his younger brother, as though shielding him. "So what?" he growled.

The woman shook her head. 'Can't believe you're the most surveilled target of the Illuminati,' she murmured under her breath. "Okumura-sensei," she addressed Yukio, ignoring Rin again. "My opinion stands," she crossed her arms on her chest. "The Captain trusts very little. And you only have one use to him."

Yukio bent his head, his fists clenching on his lap.

(Rin felt a spike of hot, negative emotion that wasn't his own surging in his mind.)

"And my stand has been clear, since the beginning," the Grigori concluded, "the discussion is over."

As soon as the sentence left the Vatican's highest commander's mouth, Yukio quickly left like he had zombies at his heels.

"Ah, Yukio, wait!" Rin ran after him. "Stop! I said stop!"

Having had freakish strength and speed his whole life, Rin managed to catch up with his bondmate. "What was that!?" he exploded. In the middle of the hallway.

Everyone stopped dead to watch them.

Yukio frowned, and in a flash, Rin found himself thrown against the wall of a room Yukio had pushed both of them into.

"I'm terribly sorry," the four-eyes said to the three exorcists occupying the room, who had gaped at the intrusion. "Could we please have this room for a while?"

'Satan's sons,' Rin's acute senses heard one of them telling the other two, before they scrammed out as requested.

'Sons,' they said.

(_It used to be just him._)

But now wasn't the time to be depressed. "What were you going to do?" Rin let his wrath consume him. They hadn't even talked about why Yukio had been hiding the fact that they were each other's soulmate from him. "Without telling me again!?"

Yukio threw his eyes to the floor, avoiding Rin's gaze resolutely.

Rin narrowed his eyes. "I'm not that stupid!" he couldn't help the flames that lit him up. "You intended to be a spy at the Illuminati, didn't you?"

Yukio's body was overcame by the blue flames, too. The sound of fabric tearing filled the air, before large wings emerged from the taller teen's back, pushing the heavy black overcoat down his elbows as buttons flew. "N-nii-san!" he fell to his knees, his voice pleading. "Please control your flames!"

Rin's first instinct was to apologize…but that would change the mood, and he really couldn't afford to have this talk postponed again.

Besides, he was disappointed at himself that his control was slipping again.

(_Why is it harder to keep the flames under wraps now?_)

"I apologize." But it was Yukio who said sorry. Rin was surprised. His prideful brother would rarely, rarely… "The bond means you have to control some of my powers as well."

Of all things…this is the one Rin didn't want Yukio to say sorry for. "'_Na wake nee darou_!" [1] He picked his brother up from the floor by clutching on his collar. "So, is it true!? Tell me!" He kept pressing.

Yukio sighed, and hid his eyes through the glare of his glasses by pushing it up the bridge of his nose. "…yes."

"Shit!" Rin cursed and punched the wall next to his thick, infuriating brother. The boy who was connected to him. "You-"

"It doesn't matter anymore because it's not going to happen!" Yukio interrupted, his blue eyes finally meeting Rin's head on. "You heard what they decided!"

Rin couldn't follow his brother's logic. "But why did _you_ even decide-"

Yukio looked at him like he was in idiot. "We never know enough about what Lucifer is planning! And judging from the fact that they placed me under their custody without harming me last time, they _want_ me! This is a good chance!"

Rin's wrath bled out of him like his fire had been doused in water. His brother, always, always so _self-sacrificial-_

"You've known that we're soulmates for a long time, right?" Rin switched the topic before he ran out of steam. "Why were you hiding it?"

Yukio stewed in silence, but before Rin had to prompt him again, he answered. "Someone placed the blind on you so that you won't see…for a reason. I never confirmed why or who placed it on you…most probably they just didn't want you spawning an army of part-demons in Assiah."

"Hah?" Rin raised an eyebrow, "you and I are boys! That may be _their _reason, but not yours!"

Again with fixing that glasses. "To be honest…I just never understand the hype about soulmates, Nii-san. We're already brothers."

_Liar_, Rin's mind told him. But he was too scared to dig deeper for the truth.

_Was it because you didn't want my demonic powers to contaminate you?_

(_Or was it because you never wanted me?_)

"And…" Rin's own eyes strayed to the ground. _Here comes the hardest part._

Fingers touched his face gently. Rin looked back up, and found that fond expression on the doctor's face again, directed at him.

"There is nothing to forgive, Nii-san," Yukio's voice was soothing and kind, "I know you only meant to help me control the flames."

Guilt pierced Rin's chest.

_That's only part of it_.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Actually, now that it's happened, and I'm like this," Yukio sounded like his spirits had lifted up. "I need your help to figure out my new limits, Nii-san!" He grinned and straightened up.

"A-ah," Rin obliged reluctantly, always glad to be useful to his brother.

So the talk ended, just like that.

TBC

Review please!

1. '(そう) な 訳 ねえ だろう' literally means 'that shouldn't be why (you apologize)'. But the English sentence is too long and doesn't convey anger as well as the Japanese. 'Nee' is the pronunciation of 'nai' when spoken in anger. The best English translation would be, "That's not the point!"


	17. 39-40

A/N: Sorry, late update is late. Work happens.

WARNING: Scene 40 has girl on girl actions.

* * *

><p>39.<p>

Mephisto looked pained. Like he had a stomach ulcer.

Rin cocked his head. "…someone stole your cake?"

Yukio sighed. "Nii-san, Sir Pheles is still the Principal of our school. You should address him with more respect."

"Ye haven't called me with '-san', either!" Shura shot at Rin as she reclined on her chair and opened a can of beer she retrieved from the seal on her belly. "By the way, why am I here, Mephisto!?"

"Ah, I have something to announce to you," the Japanese Branch Head addressed the three of them, still with his brows heavily creased. "It's with regards to Yukio-kun's handler."

Rin narrowed his eyes. "You're still at it," he complained.

Yukio merely pushed his glasses up his nose. "So he's been decided?"

"She…" Mephisto corrected, then exhaled heavily. Rin had really never seen the mischievous clown this depressed. "She-" he tried again.

"YUKIO-CHAAAAN!" A loud scream interrupted them. The door to Mephisto's office opened with a bang.

Standing on the doorway as a petite girl – probably shorter than Izumo – with long, wavy black hair, dressed in a white laboratory coat and an unbelievably short Shanghai dress. She had a white bandana tied around her head, and her bangs were so long they nearly covered her eyes…

Which zeroed in on Yukio and lighted up.

"I MISS YOU!" She literally launched herself at the no-nonsense bespectacled guy, knocking his breath away with the force of her glomp.

His brother's face was so red it could rival a tomato. "T-takani-san!" he stuttered.

(Yet, Rin could sense that Yukio was filled by a light, airy feeling. Something akin to..._happiness?_)

The girl – woman, Rin couldn't tell how old she was – pouted. "_Mou_, Yukio-chan! Call me by my given name!"

Yukio blushed impossibly redder. "…Yuuko-san…"

Takani Yuuko [1] smiled brightly. "I'm so happy!" her arms tightened around Yukio.

Rin's vein pulsed on his temple. He was somehow irritated. "Hey, you-" he began.

But the hyperactive girl had shifted her attention to Shura. "Kyaa, Shura-chan! Long time no see!"

Shura jumped out of her skin.

Rin blinked. It was rare to see the vermilion-haired knight this edgy.

"Shuuuraa-chaaan!" In the blink of an eye, the knight found herself subjected to the same enthusiastic treatment Yukio had received. Even worse, the petite girl had buried her face in the taller woman's chest, her tiny palms squeezing Shura's boobs. "Ooh, have these become bigger since I last met you? I'm so jealous!"

Rin's eyes nearly popped out of his socket.

"W-wh-whaat!?" The teen jerked out of his seat, his nose bleeding. The girl on girl action was too much for his libido!

"Let go!" Shura shook the smaller woman off. "Don't touch me, perve!"

"Eeh," Takani Yuuko whined, "why? We were so close when we were Reverend Fujimoto's disciples! By the way," She must be lightning fast, because the petite girl managed to curl her arm around Shura before the knight could dodge it. "Do you know any nice places to drink? I just arrived from Beijing, I don't know the neighbourhood!"

The light in Shura's eyes changed. "Ya should have said this earlier!" The knight's attitude took a 180.

It was so bizzare.

"Ahem!" Mephisto cleared his throat. "The Japanese Branch is happy to have you back, Takani-san!" It was very clear he was lying through his teeth; even Rin could tell. "By the way, there is still someone here who don't know you, so if you can introduce yourself…"

"Oh!" Yuuko's slit-like foxy eyes widened as she peered up at Rin, scanning him from head to toe. "So you're Yukio-chan's older brother!" Her face was so close Rin could see the weird red markings at the ends of her eyes and…was there a red tattoo of an eye behind her bangs!?

"Nice to meet you!" She shoved her hand under Rin's chin. "I'm Takani Yuuko, Upper First class doctor and dragoon. Your foster father was my disciple, and I was also his disciple…it's a little complicated," she grinned and scratched her head with her other hand. "Ah, I taught Yukio-chan some things when Reverend Fujimoto was away on missions, too."

"Which was often," Shura shook her head. "The she-devil was understating it. She was practically _Bibiri_'s first co-teacher."

"Shura-chan, calling me she-devil…that's mean!"

'First co-teacher,' the words swirled in Rin's head as the two Upper First class bickered. _An admirable figure from Yukio's past. A lovely, highly competent person._

Something…itched under his ribcages.

"Okumura…Rin-kun, right?" Yuuko's voice brought Rin back to the present. She looked at him a little strangely.

Must be because Rin was stoning. "Ah, right!" he quickly grabbed her proffered hand. "Nice to meet you too!"

"That's wonderful!" the clown clapped dramatically. "You handlers, please get along with each other and your charges! Now that my role here is over-"

"Wait, Sir Pheles," Yuuko was entirely polite, but the Principal was visibly ticked off. "I'd like to catch up with you." She smiled at him.

"Ah…sure," his reply was reluctant.

After the doors shut behind them, Rin watched Yukio as he turned his head back minutely, his mind undoubtedly on her.

"Ah, isn't that nice," Shura's voice had taken on a teasing tone, "to meet yer first crush again." Her lips curved to a Cheshire grin.

Pink patches spread on Yukio's cheeks. "What on earth are you talking about, Shura-san!?" he was totally flustered.

Rin pressed a hand on his chest.

(That itch again.)

* * *

><p>40.<p>

"O-oone more cuuuu-hic."

"No," Shura sighed and wrenched the sake flask,_tokkuri_, out of the shorter woman's grabby hands. "Yev got yer skull full of alcohol."

"Doon't be a booorre," Yuuko slurred as she waved her _ochoko_ – small cylindrical cup – around. "Mooore!" she draped herself over the knight's side.

"Gedoff!" The ninja was irritated. The weather's hot and muggy and the stupid perve was sweating against her clammy skin!

"Nuuuh-"

Yuuko leaned too far forward, and they both toppled to the ground.

Shura hit her head against the ground, and hissed. Why did she agree to a private room again? Now none of the waiters could notice the situation and take this drunkard away from here! "Hey!" she barked at the part-beast on top of her chest.

The vermillion-haired woman had her eyes closed as she hurt herself from the fall, so it was _very much_ a surprise when she found soft, wet lips pressed against hers.

"Hnngh," Yuuko moaned against as she licked and sucked Shura's lips, "Shura-chan," soft, skillful hands fondled the knight's boobs.

Unexpectedly, Shura sensed her libido respond with interest. The cloth of her bikini felt too damn thin all of a sudden. She, too, must be friggin' intoxicated.

Still, Shura tried to struggle. "Perve-" she placed her palms on the dragoon's shoulders, intending to push her away.

But Yuuko intervened by pressing her knee against Shura's groin and pushed against the denim.

"Ah!" Shura panted as short, slender fingers slipped under her bra.

The first time this happened years ago, when both of them were under Shirou's care, Shura had protested. "H-hey-" Shura had yelled as the petite perve straddled one of her fishnet-covered thighs and rubbed against her. "Y-your thread-"

"Hmm," Yuuko had flattened her tongue against the roof of Shura's mouth before slowly pulling back. "It's black," those foxy eyes gave her a knowing look. "Like yours."

No strings attached, then.

Now, it'd become a pleasant routine. Shura laid back on the tatami and let the other woman do as she pleased.

At least, until Shura heard a male voice say, "as much as I enjoy the show, could you please let go of the horny bitch, Shura-san?"

Shura dislodged the _Bai Ze_ with a knee-jerk kick to her gut so fast the short perve almost flew to the wall.

Yuuko was, however, caught by a white-robed figure with chin-length midnight blue hair, cerulean eyes twinkling at her. "Oh, careful," he smirked in amusement.

"The Matchmaker!?" Shura quickly crossed her arms in front of her exposed boobs. "Da hell ya doin' here!"

"To bring home my bondmate," he shrugged and picked up the dark-haired woman before flinging her over his shoulder. "I'm not the one you should be worrying about," his gaze slid to the side…

To the unmoving, tall stature of Sir Mephisto Pheles, frozen as a statue. A dark aura radiated from his face, shadowed by his bangs.

The hairs on the back of Shura's neck stood. "What!?"

The Matchmaker only smiled offhandedly. "Then, I'll be taking my leave," he began to walk away.

Yuuko waved at her as she hung upside down from the white robed magician's back. "Bye, Shura-chan! Mephisto, don't be stingy and share, kay?"

"Like hell," the words growled out of the tall demon's throat were barbed in steel thorns.

Shura didn't understand. "What's going on!?"

"I thought you've heard?" the Matchmaker paused on his way out and turned his head toward her. A thick, furry tail peeked out of the end of his white robe.

"Demons' strings of fate are black."

TBC

Review please!

* * *

><p>AN: Cliche love rival is cliche...or is she?

See you again...may be 2nd week of December. After JLPT.


	18. 41-42

41.

'_Demons' strings of fate are black.'_

Duh. There was no feckin' way Shura could have forgot that. The DRAMA between _Bibiri _and her idiot disciple had imprinted that piece of knowledge in her mind.

For a moment, Shura had glanced at her own black string and pondered. _Could he be not dead?_

_Nah! _The thought was chased out in a second. _Too much hassle._

Shura liked her life; it was never boring. Rin was a laugh, but he was a good kid. _Bibiri_ was fun to rile, too.

(_Let someone in, and they will hurt you._)

On hindsight, Shura wondered as she eyed Mephisto's frozen stature warily, her mind quickly sobering as seconds ticked away, perhaps she should have given it more thought.

"…what's yer business!?" Shura clucked her tongue as the silence had gone on too long. She uncrossed her arms and fixed her bra without a care to the world.

Better to expose her skin than to turn her back against this demon, after all.

At long last, a sigh emerged from the tall, bearded male. He raised his hand to his face and pushed his fringe back.

Shura watched unblinkingly. _Did he just press his fingers against his temple?_

"…If you didn't touch me in Kyoto, I probably wouldn't have reacted like this," Mephisto finally said to her, unbuttoning his left glove as he spoke.

Shura subtly placed her weight on the balls of her feet, ready to bolt as soon as her instincts told her to.

The Honorary Knight discarded the leather piece of clothing to the floor and raised the exposed hand, pale and smooth and a stark contrast to the purple casing it was _very_ seldom released from. He moved it up and down, to the left and the right, amber green eyes watching the space around as if searching for something.

_A weird ritual…?_

The Principal must have found what he needed, because a second later he curled his right hand, thumb pressing against middle and point fingers. "_Eins, Zwei_,"

Before the demon could finish, Shura had placed her palm on her tattoo. "_Devour the eight princesses, slay the serpent,_" she released Kusanagi from the dimension connected to her chest.

"_Drei!"_ After Mephisto snapped his fingers, there was no explosions. Shura did not find herself teleported to the twilight zone, either.

Instead, Mephisto's left hand was seemingly elucidated by a glow of supernatural light, revealing the bunch of strings tied to the base of his little finger.

Shura had no interests in strings of fate, so she wasn't an expert at it, but she had heard of individuals with numerous strings. Nobody really understood what strings of fate were; experimentations were prohibited by the Vatican, and their severance had no adverse effects. Over time, the views of those not interested in the 'human relationships' aspect of the strings seemed to boil down to, 'it's good to have to enhance both your and your bondmate's powers, but otherwise, not much difference.'

Anyways, '_not my problem,'_ was the attitude she'd taken her entire life.

Each of Mephisto's string (black, all black) had a clip fastened to it about a meter away from his finger, dark symbols etched on each clip.

Shura shuddered. The magic felt repulsive. "Wat are those for?"

"Watch," Mephisto only moved his left hand up and down, to the left and the right again.

Only the strings between Mephisto and the clips were unspooled and followed the demon's movement. The strings after the clips were taut and still.

Shura's eyes widened.

"It's troublesome to have them looking for me, after all. Easier for them to think of me dead," Mephisto shrugged nonchalantly and reached out to one of the clips and plucked it off.

Immediately, the string that had stayed black and unmoving her twenty six years of life loosened, and shifted downward when Shura caught the tall Honorary Knight putting down his left arm from the corner of her eyes.

Her mind was stunned into silence as she traced her string across the room, all the way to the other end, a familiar face devoid of amusement, just waiting, somber.

A moment passed with just Shura's even exhales and inhales filling the air.

Eventually, "…Why are you letting me know?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Mephisto shrugged again. "To give you a choice…hmm a warning, really."

Shura's eyes flashed. "A warning?" her grip around Kusanagi tightened.

In the blink of an eye, Shura found the manipulative demon standing directly in front of her, gloved fingers touching her chin as he was bent over her, his shadows engulfing hers.

"I won't hesitate to take control of you after the bond is consummated," he grinned to the scant space of their breath.

Shura recoiled and gritted her teeth, her arm swinging her sword reflexively. But of course, Mephisto had already fled to the end of the room, next to the sliding doors, before the blade could hit him.

"Right now you're not a threat, Shura-_chan_," he waved as he stepped out. "Make sure that you'll stay that way."

* * *

><p>42.<p>

Rin couldn't believe his eyes.

"How do you do?" the perverted petite woman in her super short Shanghai dress was standing in front of a class that Yukio was supposed to be teaching, waving at the students with a silly grin on her foxy face.

_What on earth? _He seethed.

Luckily, Rin wasn't the only one who felt strange.

"Where is Yuki-chan?" Shiemi rose to her feet and exclaimed.

Yuuko [1] tilted her head at the blonde. "You are…"

The green-eyed girl belatedly realized that she had just talked back to a teacher. "M-moriyama Shiemi. Ah, I-I'm so sorry," she replied, flustered.

Yuuko laughed. "Don't mind it," she looked up and addressed the whole class as well. "Anyways, Okumura-sensei is unwell, so I will be covering for him for a while. My name is Takani Yuuko. My age…" a shadow fell over her face before it was taken over by a large, fake, _bone-freezing_ smile, her stare murderous, "is a secret! Hohoho!"

A chill passed through Rin. 'What a terrifying woman…'

"Anyways, _yoroshiku onegai shimasu!_" [2] The vixen continued.

"Takani!?" Shiemi raised her voice again, her eyes were sparkling. "Rin! That's a famous clan of doctors from Aizu!"

"Oooh," their energetic teacher appeared at Shiemi's side in a flash. "36-26-30…" Rin heard her murmur as those slit-like eyes assessed the blonde girl (_Is she seriously assessing Shiemi's three measurements?_), before Yuuko smiled at the Tamer exwire. "You've learned Rangaku?" [3]

Shiemi shook her head. "Ah…my house is a pharmacy, so…"

_So she is that famous, _Rin thought absently as he watched them.

As the two females chatted, Suguro slid closer to Rin. "Psst, Okumura-kun," he whispered, "what happened to the young teacher?"

Rin felt heartened by Suguro's concern. "Yukio isn't sick," he smiled at his friend. "They're just forcing him to undergo medical examinations," his expression darkened.

"Okumura-kun!" suddenly, the vixen called him. "You were learning about mandrakes in your last lesson, right?" She already had the textbook opened before her.

Rin straightened up. "Yes!"

The teacher nodded. "Could you tell me what are the most dangerous properties of mandrakes?"

Rin flipped through his textbook in a panic. "Uh…"

Suguro sighed, and pointed out the relevant page to Rin.

'Thanks!' he shot the boy with the blonde cockscomb, and read the paragraph.

"Hmm, hmm," Yuuko nodded along, and just as Rin was about to release a breath in relief, she asked, "What other plants have hallucinogenic and anticholinergic properties?"

"Hah?" Rin was stunned. "Anticho…what?"

"Effects such as choking and loss of breath," Shiemi told him softly.

"Errr," Rin was still at a loss.

"Suguro-kun?" she passed the question to him.

"Yes," he stood up as Rin plopped to his bottom and sighed. "Angel's trumpets and moonflowers, also known as brugmansia and datura."

"Good, good." The satisfaction in Yuuko's tone made Rin feel unpleasant. He'd never felt bothered about not being smart before, but- "Why?"

"Eh?" Suguro was thrown off.

Yuuko raised an eyebrow. "Why do all three types of plants causes hallucinations and asphyxiation?"

"That's…" Suguro, _the _Suguro who scored 98% in Yukio's test once, floundered.

Yuuko blinked. "So you were…memorizing blindly?"

Rin felt annoyed. It was like she was insulting Yukio's teaching abilities. _He's only fifteen, okay? He's doing great already!_

But before Rin could rant, the teacher launched into a long explanation of what major chemicals were in the plants, and which part of the human body they interacted with to result in loss of breath. Her diagrams were straight forward and her analogies simple but interesting. It was like listening to a story.

For once…Rin could understand.

"Imagine they're people with difficult names," she referred to the chemicals. "Each have their own personalities."

After she said that, the bell rang.

"Homework!" The word made Rin groan. "Write an essay about a favourite herb! Remember to follow the approach I told you today: the chemicals, their separate properties, how they interact with the body of the target!"

That…was unconventional.

Someone chuckled from the doorway.

"Yuki-chan!" Shiemi sounded very relieved. "So you're okay!"

"Not completely," Yukio smiled at the blonde girl as he strolled in, keeping to the front the Order had set up.

Yuuko pouted. "Here to ensure that I didn't feed your students with garbage?" she placed her arms on her waist.

"No," Yukio laughed softly and turned to the diagrams on the board. His gaze was nostalgic as he skimmed through them. "I know they're in safe hands."

The four-eye's voice was so…warm and trusting.

(Rin never heard Yukio use that tone to describe _him_.)

Yuuko smiled, an expression they were sharing. "Ne, Yukio-chan," she called him. The rest of the students were too distracted with packing their bags to notice the intimate honorific. "I want to see how much you've improved."

Yukio's expression turned serious and determined. One hand unconsciously reached for the gun behind his back. "All right."

Rin didn't want to be left out. "Let me join you!" he jumped into the conversation before the two were gone.

"Nii-san!" As expected, Yukio protested. "Don't you have extra lessons with Shura-san?"

"Shura isn't here!" Rin made a show out of looking for her in the corridors. "Yukio, take me with you!" he demanded.

Yuuko chuckled. "I don't mind."

So Rin said goodbye to Shiemi and Suguro and followed the duo as they walked in the opposite direction as the rest of the student. Yuuko was praising Yukio about how he well he'd planned the lessons based on the knowledge exhibited by the students, and while Rin would rather hear _this _than Yuuko's criticisms…

(It's better if they just ignored each other like strangers.)

Yukio unlocked a door using one of Mephisto's keys, and instead of the batting centre Rin had gotten used to, they entered a ridiculously spacious room, its wall painted green.

"The simulation centre," Yukio mentioned in response to the bafflement on Rin's face.

The beeping of a button being pressed filled the room, and the landscape changed to that of a rocky desert, holograms of all sorts of demons filling the air.

"Further advanced level selected," the system's technical voice announced.

"Nii-san, stand aside," Yukio reminded Rin as he took out his pistols and replaced the magazines. Then, to Yuuko, "Are we using the speed of clearing the level as a benchmark?"

"Let's make it more interesting," Yuuko swished her laboratory coat, and a couple of firearms dropped to the ground. [4] "I'll hunt the demons as well. And after there are no more demons, we'll target each other."

"Second player set," the system declared.

Yukio was taken aback. "Eh?"

"In 5," the vixen warned as she picked up her weapons – a handgun and a bigger rifle – and leapt to the ceiling, reaching the other end of the room in four jumps. "4, 3, 2-"

The moment the countdown was over, laser bullets flew all over the place, hitting the projections more quickly than an eye could blink.

Yukio was a good sharpshooter, quick and accurate, but Yuuko…Rin could barely see her. She was so petite one would think her small arms didn't have the strength to keep shooting, but her size made her agile. She had no problem slipping through the demons, spinning through the air like a gymnast, covering more grounds than Yukio, who kept himself shielded behind the rocks. The system's monitor embedded to the wall displayed the scores of player 1 and player 2, and the latter was so far ahead.

And soon enough, there were no more demons left.

"It's just the two of us now!" Yuuko declared. And charged.

Yukio left his shelter and rolled on the ground to another rock, keeping his back covered. His eyes were darting all over the place, his breath short and fast. Rin could feel his fight and flight response coursing through their bond.

Yuuko didn't even bother to conceal herself. She was on the offense since the get go. Rin didn't know how any human could achieve that speed and balance-

"So here ye are!" Shura's voice made Rin jump out of his skin. "I was looking for ya-" the vermilion-haired knight glared at her pupil until she noticed who else were in the simulation centre.

"Ho," her lips curved to a wide grin as she watched the 'exercise' between Yuuko and Yukio. "Go easy on _Bibiri,_ perve!" Shura hollered.

"Shut up!" It was Yukio who yelled back. His energy had been rising higher and higher, making the bond pulse as he was increasingly cornered.

"By the way," Rin complained to the woman who was supposed to be his teacher, "Why aren't my trainings more like this? I passed your stupid candle test right?"

"Hah?" Shura messed up his hair. "Ye wanted to be beaten up?"

"OI!" Rin was about to bat the knight's hand off his head when his body suddenly burst in fire. The blue flame.

Rin's eyes sought his brother anxiously. "Yukio!"

The bespectacled teen wasn't found anywhere on the ground. He was on the air, wings spread wide on his sides, flying straight toward Yuuko. Both of them had their guns aimed at each other, within perfect firing range.

The long-haired woman appeared stunned for a moment, but just as Rin thought Yukio was going to win, she smirked.

A swift kick to Yukio's sternum made him choke and miss. As he dropped a few feet to the ground, Yuuko shot, hitting him on his shoulder.

Yukio grunted as he landed on his knees, clutching said shoulder like it was physically wounded. A sharp, negative emotion permeated the bond as the blue flames simmered to ambers, sensations of disgust and agony directed to Yukio's self.

Rin recognized it as shame.

"Yukio!" he started toward his brother, filled with the urge to soothe him. He didn't know how. He just needed to-

Yuuko stood in front of the bowed figure, and offered him her hand.

"You almost got me," her voice was firm and full of pride. "You even had him excited."

The strange sentence got Rin looking at her more closely, and he found that horns had sprouted from her head. Her eyes were gold with straight vertical slits.

Yukio noticed them, too. "Yuuko-san…" his voice sounded like it could break any time.

"The forte of winged demons is their speed," she placed a hand on his shoulder blades. Where the wings were. "Don't fear what you have."

Yukio's eyes widened.

"Yukio!" as soon as she stepped aside, Rin swooped his brother into a hug. "It'll all right, Yukio! You did great!"

Yukio didn't respond. Rin sensed that something had changed within his soulmate, but he didn't know what or why.

'_It's unfair,'_ Rin screamed in his mind as he spied Yuuko over Yukio's head, the petite woman sexually harassing Shura again. '_How am I supposed to compete with that?'_

TBC

Review please!

* * *

><p>Notes:<p>

1. I normally don't like OCs…but Katou Kazue-sensei didn't introduce many First Upper class exorcists I can borrow to be Yukio's handler. (Well, I like that she keeps the cast lean. With Shingeki no Kyojin, there are so many characters I can't keep track and care about every single one of them). Anyways, it's great if she could be a plot device as well!

- Takani 高荷 from Megumi Takani of Rurouni Kenshin. It was mentioned that the Takani family had consisted of renowned doctors since 1640s.  
>- Yuuko 尤子means 'outstanding child'<br>- Her character design is genderbent Hakutaku from Hoozuki no Reitetsu, who in turn is based off the mythical creature Bai Ze (please wiki it). Hakutaku is voiced by Shima's seiyuu btw (Kouji Yusa)!

2. Loosely translated to 'please get along with me' or 'please take care of me'  
>3. wikiRangaku  
>4. This is obviously inspired by Mahou Shoujo Madoka's Tomoe Mami's fighting style.<p> 


	19. 43-44

Merry Christmas! Have some fluff in scene 44 on a jolly good day!

A/N: It wasn't clear, but scene 40-41 happen after scene 42. I.e. the order is: scene 42 (Yuuko becomes a teacher at the cram school), scene 40-41 (Shura and Yuuko go drinking), then scene 43.

* * *

><p>43.<p>

"Ah!"

Shura looked up to find the petite woman in a lab coat walking in her direction from the opposite end of the corridor.

Then that foxy woman slipped away.

"Stop right there!" This is the first time their position was reversed. Shura had always been the one to flee when she spotted Takani Yuuko. "Don't you dare-" she launched herself at the smaller woman and pinned her to the floor by sitting on her back.

"Oof!" Shura smirked in satisfaction when the breath was knocked out of Yuuko's lungs. "S-shura-chan," she dared to flash her a silly smile!? "Good morning! How is your hangover?"

The bitch was purposely shouting to her ears. Shura glared at her. "Ye owe me explanations," she grabbed the fox's arms and twisted them behind her back. "Not gonna let go!" Thankfully, it was too early for lessons, and most of the exorcists were busy working. The hallways of the cram school were pretty deserted.

Yuuko sighed. "So?" she lied down on the floor more comfortably.

But Shura wouldn't let her guard down. "Did ya deliberately seduce me to draw out that guy?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Shura-chan, don't give too little credit to your hot body!" Yuuko somehow still managed to grope her thigh.

Shura was really, really tempted to break the fox's wrist. "Answer!" she ordered and exerted pressure on her captive's flesh, feeling the bone under her skin.

Of course, the fox never gave any outward indication of pain. "That was part of my intention, yes," she admitted. Even without facing her, Shura knew there was a smirk on Yuuko's face. "If I got to sleep with you, that's a bonus, too."

Shura's brow twitched. She steeled herself before she asked her next question. "Why did ya bond with the Matchmaker?" She hated the creepy guy's guts, but he wasn't _just_ a wizard. From that tail he flashed her (what a perve! That must be how they fit!), Shura was sure he was at least part-demon.

"Tut, tut, Shura-chan." Yuuko turned her head. The gleam in her golden irises was downright _dangerous_. It reminded Shura that she was holding on to a beast. "That information is costly...will you be able to pay it?" The wide curve of her lips was almost feral.

Shura didn't show any fear. She knew enough not to. "Yew used me as a bait," she recapped.

"That's not enough," Yuuko pouted, and in a blink of an eye, twisted her body, slipping her hands out of Shura's grasp. Shura didn't hold on too tight, because none of them wanted this to be as bloody as it could get, she was sure. "Would you consider paying by credit?" The fox leaned forward and invaded Shura's personal space.

Typical of her.

Shura kept her eyes on the Bai Ze's face for a moment, before she sighed. No point getting herself indebted for knowledge that might be completely trivial for her. "Never mind."

This time, it was Yuuko who curled her fingers around Shura's wrist to prevent the knight from leaving.

"Whatever that guy may have said," Shura couldn't see her expression as she spoke, shadowed by the long tresses covering her face. "Always remember a bond goes two ways, Shura-chan."

And with that advice…they were even again.

* * *

><p>44.<p>

"You've drunk too much, Ryuuji-kun," Shiemi chided as she held back the hair of the young man bent over the bushes not too far away from the veranda, expelling the acidic contents of his stomach to the innocent wild life.

Shiemi sighed at her asinine commentary as she patted his back. _Anything to keep my nerves from fraying, I suppose…_

"C…can't help it," Ryuuji-kun said blearily as he wiped his mouth. "'S not often Renzou can be with us, y'no." [1]

As if on cue, a crash could be heard from inside the room where the party was still going on full force, loud music blasting in all direction. Shima-kun's shouts of 'Not my fault!' and Rin's laughter could still be heard over the chaos. Yuki-chan must be pinching the bridge of his nose inside.

Shiemi couldn't help but smile at the image.

"Okay," Ryuuji rose to his feet unsteadily, "let's go back before the idiots break something…"

Shiemi panicked inwardly. "Wait, Ryuuji-kun!" She grabbed his hand. The blonde woman was mentally unprepared (she would probably_never_ feel prepared) and she really wished she'd have thought to bring a glass of water to help Ryuuji-kun sober up, but this was probably the only chance they had to be alone tonight.

"…Shiemi-san?" The tall young man was staring at her with unfocused eyes that were slowly turning sharper.

Shiemi scrunched her eyes shut.

_Here goes nothing!_

The green-eyed blonde dropped to one knee on a wet patch of green grass. "Suguro Ryuuji-kun!" She presented him the box she'd been clutching in her pocket the whole day. "W-would you m-ma-marry me?"

"H-ha!?" Ryuuji-kun exclaimed in shock.

Then nothing.

"I-I know I'm not twenty yet [2], s-so it won't be until n-next year, b-but-" the longer the silence dragged, the more Shiemi felt the urge to ramble, her heart sinking deeper and deeper to the pit of her stomach as each second passed. _Please, please, please-_

"S-shiemi-san," Ryuuji-kun's voice came from the vicinity of her face, not several feet above. Shiemi mustered her courage to open her eyes.

Ryuuji-kun had kneeled in front of her, his face so red the rosy hues were visible under the moonlight and the fluorescent escaping through the gaps between the curtains. "Shiemi-san," his expression was extremely serious as he touched her face with his fingers.

Shiemi stared at him, transfixed as the calluses on his palm from gripping his pistols tightly, rubbed against her cheeks. "…Are you sure…?" Ryuuji-kun's whisper was softer than a breath.

Shiemi gave her soulmate her best, straightest gaze, and nodded steadfastly. "I've given this much thought…and talked to others," she covered one of his hands with the hand not holding onto the box. "Love is a choice, Ryuuji-kun. And I choose, I pledge to love you, if you choose to have me." She smiled, her eyes watery from how much effort it took her to reign her emotions for this man. She just…loved him so much. For letting her know herself better. _For being prepared to let her go_.

"Happy birthday, Ryuuji-kun."

Ryuuji-kun's face was so pinched he looked so _fierce_. Shiemi had seen enough to know this was the face the Kyoto-born made when he was about to cry. "Shiemi-san-" he brought their faces together and kissed her desperately.

Thankfully, their bond wasn't strong enough consummation could be activated without the spells, but Shiemi could still feel an unbearable urge to press herself close to the broad-shouldered man, to tear apart any fabric obstructing her from his skin, to claw into his chest and slip underneath, so they couldn't be separated anymore. The muggy heat of the summer clouded her head till she couldn't think, dizzy with her feelings.

They probably would have proceeded to do something frisky, if somebody hadn't cleared his throat obnoxiously loudly behind them.

Everyone from their Exorcist Cram School class were crowded around the opened sliding doors of the veranda and staring. Even Yuki-chan, cramped to the side behind Kamiki-san.

"Wah!" Shiemi wanted to hide in a hole. Now.

Shima-kun grinned brightly at the couple. "Congratulations, you love birds!"

"Hear! hear!" Rin whistled and gave them the thumbs up when Shiemi caught his eyes.

Shima-kun approached them. "But Bon, seriously, to be proposed to by a girl," he shook his head as he slapped his friend on the back.

Bon sent him a death glare before turning to the blonde woman. "I-I'll definitely propose to you, too!"

"You'll still be late!" Shima continued teasing him.

"Ah, Bon, don't!" Konekomaru exclaimed when the birthday boy lunged at the bubble-gum-blue-haired Knight-Tamer. "Renzou, you too, stop!"

Shiemi laughed at the sight before her.

She couldn't be any happier.

TBC

Review please!

* * *

><p>Notes:<p>

1. A head canon shared with Love_Psycho is Shima is not a double agent; he eventually is forgiven by the True Cross Order but they have him on missions all over the world and keep a tight leash on him.

2. No one under the age of 20 can marry without parental consent in Japan. Even with parental consent, there is a minimum age of 18 for males and 16 for females. Generally, 20 is the age of majority in Japan. Every twenty years old undergoes a ceremony called Seijin-shiki on the second Monday of January.

Shiemi's birthday is 6th March, but was never mentioned if she was younger or older than Rin (whose bday is 27 Dec). Since Japan's academic year cut-off is 1 April (i.e. students born from 1 April 1994 to 31 March 1995 will generally be placed in the same academic year), I assume she's younger.


End file.
